Secret Garden
by DarkPhoenix168
Summary: Kagome and Rin are two gardeners, set to restore a garden for a ball, but how do they react to their new clients? Sessh/Rin and Kag/Inu
1. Chapter 1

**New Story ^^** you guys review and I write; let me know if I should just focus on the ones I'm writing on

This story is based slightly on Rosemary & Thyme, a British murder mystery T.V show. Mostly the only idea I got from it was the gardening, but other than that, not much.

This isn't yuri, but and InuYasha/Kagome and Sesshomaru/Rin story, sorry to confuse those of you who thought otherwise.

**Read and Review please dearies ^^**

**AN - I do not own InuYasha, not matter how much I wish I did.**

* * *

"That's the-_ung-_ last of it," Rin yelled as she heaved a large box of tools into the back of their jeep, calling to her partner who remained inside the house, thanking their former client.

"I'm coming," Kagome yelled, turning back to Mr. Sho, thanking him for the opportunity and wishing him and his garden the best of luck in the future.

"Once again, thank you for this wonderful opportunity, and I hope that you and your wife enjoy the new garden to its fullest," Kagome said with a smile, shaking the man's hands.

"Oh no! Thank you my dears, we thoroughly enjoyed your company and your hard work on our garden, and it looks simply marvelous! My wife and I will finally be able to enjoy hosting an outdoor dinner party thanks to you lovely ladies!"

Kagome smiled at him, bowing at him and waving before leaving the house through the wide double doors and marching out to the old jeep the two girls drove, the gravel crunching under her feet as she stepped quickly to the vehicle. Unlocking the driver's side door, Kagome stepped into the jeep and turned the keys, the car starting to life after a few turns.

"Did you ever think of getting a new car?" Rin asked as the jeep was shifted into gear with effort from Kagome, who in turn scowled.

"My baby has brought us to hell and back honey, and I'm here with her till she dies," Kagome announced proudly, patting the steering wheel with tenderness, while her partner sighed in the passenger seat.

"Whatever, how'd the goodbyes go?"

"Perfect!" Kagome gloated, "he said that he _loved _our company and that we did a fantastic job on the garden."

"_We_?" Rin reiterated, "I'll remember that next time I'm hauling three hundred bags of top soil for a design that I made and had carefully selected every single flower for the patio while _you _are sipping ice tea with the client."

"Hey, _he _invited _me,_ and you didn't complain either." Kagome said pointedly, turning off the private road and heading towards the highway.

"What was I supposed to say!" Rin exclaimed, looking at the driver, "Oh, hey Kagome, wanna get off your ass and do some work and stop flirting with the client?"

"I was _not _flirting," Kagome snapped, "_he _was."

"Yeah, sure," Rin replied, leaning back into her seat, sighing. Kagome _always _got the guys, regardless of where they were; Rin knew it wasn't her fault people found her to be really pretty, but it did get a little irritating at times, especially when they had a job to do.

"In any case, where to next," Rin asked, breaking the moments of silence had beheld them, "home, or the new job?"

"Job," Kagome replied, glancing at Rin as the other girl's shoulders drooped in relaxation. Kagome smiled slightly, she knew exactly why Rin didn't want to go back to their shared living quarters, and it was mostly to do with her ex-boyfriend Kohaku.

Kohaku and Rin had been going steady since senior year of high school, but had recently broken up due to Rin's job and the fact that Rin didn't feel the same way for him as she used to. Since their break-up, Kohaku had been relentless in trying to get back together, going so far as to bug her whenever she had arrived home.

"Did Kaede give you the directions?" Rin asked.

"Yep," Kagome said, smirking proudly, waving the piece paper in Rin's face.

"From our place or from the last client's?"

"Uh…" Kagome stuttered, paling as she arrived at a stop sign. "Damn," she muttered, peeling open the paper.

"Give it here," Rin said laughing, holding out her hand to which Kagome begrudgingly handed over the instructions to.

After about an hour and a half of screamed directions, bantering, and laughs at their slip-ups, Kagome and Rin finally found their way onto the highway where their next client awaited.

* * *

"All I'm saying," Kagome said, chewing on a piece of chicken that she had picked out of her salad, "is that is it so hard to find a man who isn't gay or married?"

"That's the thing, Kagome," Rin said, spooning her penne, "all the good ones _are _taken because they're so good."

"But they must be there in the first place."

"True, but you don't know that till you look."

"Yeah, but even then they're not that good," Kagome grumbled, spearing a leaf of lettuce angrily.

"Kagome," Rin sighed, "I know I've been saying this for ages, and I do love you, but it happened six months ago. Get. Over. It." Rin said through gritted teeth.

"I caught them in _our _bed, Rin," Kagome clipped, "how am I supposed to get over it?"

"Find a new man?" Rin responded, "have a one night stand, take up a hobby, something, _anything _so long as you get over it!"

Kagome huffed, crunching crouton in frustration. Rin was right, she knew that, but it still stung, watching the man whom she had given everything to pleasure another.

"In any case," Rin said, sipping her wine, "where's the new job again?"

"_Western Estate; _it's supposedly the richest manor in the area of rich manors."

"Mm," Rin said, sipping more of her drink while nodding, "so where's _Eastern Estate?"_

Kagome laughed, swallowing her own drink before continuing, "they are having some sort of party in about five weeks and want the old garden redone, complete with a running waterfall."

"What?" Rin coughed, "they want us to _make _a running waterfall? In five weeks?"

"No, no," Kagome corrected, "they have an old garden that was constructed years ago and the waterfall was installed then, but it has since stopped for some reason and they want us to have a look at things. The person who sent us the instructions said he'd tell us more when we get there."

"Ah," Rin said, pushing her food away from herself, "that makes more sense."

Kagome smiled at her partner, replacing her wine glass on the table top.

"Shall we get going to bed?" Kagome asked, "we have an early morning and you and I need to be fresh for the clients."

* * *

The rusted red Jeep turned up the winding road, the trees framing the picturesque drive as the early morning sun dappled through the leaves. Kagome rubbed her eyes as she focused on the road and the signs.

"Where the hell is it?" Kagome muttered, frustration beginning to grow evident in her body language.

Rin just laughed, and looked at the road, searching for the same road sign Kagome was.

"Oh, There, stop!" Rin exclaimed as Kagome slammed on her brakes and both girls rammed against their seat belts.

"OW," Rin coughed, after having gained her breath back, her hand rubbing her sore shoulder, "take it easy Kagome."

"Sorry," Kagome muttered, shifting the car into reverse and backing up to the drive, turning back to the next path up to their final destination.

The car then slowed as the girls saw the stone drive, blocked by wrought iron gates and a large fence; the beautiful stone sign proudly displaying _Western Estate._

"This it?" Rin asked in awe, craning her neck to see if she could spot the manor.

"Uh huh," Kagome replied, turning their trusted vehicle up to the gates, rolling down the window and leaning over to press the intercom button and announcing their arrival.

"What?" came a curt and obviously irritated voice, gruff even through the intercom.

"Um, we're Kagome and Rin? We're here for the garden…" Kagome trailed off, hoping that she sounded convincing enough to be let past.

"Oh, right," came the voice, obviously embarrassed at the rudeness from before, "come on up."

A loud buzzing was heard, followed swiftly by the creak of the gates as they swung open. Gunning up the car, Kagome pressed the accelerator and sped up the road. The gravel crunched lightly under the tires of the Jeep as the girls ascended the driveway, revealing the manor and lawn to the two girls.

Rin felt her jaw drop at the sight of the place, it was _enormous_, the large brick building sat gloriously atop a sloping lawn, its winding gravel road beautifully complimenting it. Turning to her partner, Rin was almost pleased to see her partner held the same expression.

"It's, um, big," Rin commented on the first thing she thought of.

"Yeah," Kagome muttered, turning her car into its parking place off to the side, pulling up the emergency brake and opening the car door. "Let's go meet our new clients, shall we?"

Rin giggled, stepping from her side of the car, "sure thing."

Rin came to Kagome's side, her tote bag slung over her body and her hands in her pockets as they watched a bearded old man walk quickly down the steps to meet them, grinning broadly.

"Welcome to Western Estate my dears, my name is Totosai, I'm one of the servants of this household. Unfortunately, the two brothers are busy with work and party planning so they can't come down to meet you I'm afraid. Now, let me see," Totosai said, putting his finger to his lips, "you must be Rin and you must be Kagome," he said, shaking their hands as he spoke.

"Close," Rin giggled, "I'm Rin, and she's Kagome, it's wonderful to meet you Totosai."

"Ah, well, at my age, at least I got the name's right, eh?" Totosai said grinning, "now, would you like something to eat or drink after your travels?"

"Actually," Rin said, interrupting Kagome before she could accept the offer, "we'd rather see the garden first before we do anything, would that be alright?"

"Yes yes of course," Totosai nodded, gesturing for the girls to follow him as he walked wound the house.

"Now," he said clapping his hands, "we want the garden returned to its original state that the previous master had it in."

"The previous Master?" Kagome asked, eyeing Rin questioningly.

"Their father, and my previous master, InuTaisho," Totosai said sadly, "he passed away when InuYasha was born unfortunately, but the garden was his pride and joy while he was alive and since this company is celebrating its hundredth anniversary, the ball will be held in his garden in his honour."

"How lovely," Rin murmured, noticing Kagome smirk; Rin was quite the hopeless romantic.

"It will be, provided you two can get it up and running in time," Totosai nodded in agreement, "we're pinning all our hopes on you two."

"No pressure then," Kagome whispered to her partner.

"None at all," Totosai said grinning, "but we also want the waterfall up and running too, word is that you two can work miracles and we need that now more than ever if we want to impress the executives attending the ball."

"Depending on the damage done on the falls, we may not be able to get it up and running in time, what happens if we can't?" Rin asked nervously, honestly flowing out of her before she could stop it.

"Then could you find some way to make it pleasing to the eyes?" Totosai asked, "I understand that it might be impossible in the timeframe with everything else you've got to do."

"Of course" Kagome answered, eyeing Rin as she could see the wheels already turning in her head as she was figuring out ways to perfect the garden.

"Now," Totosai said, clapping his hands, "we also want the garden restored to its original state for the party, every plant and tree exactly as he had done it."

"No problem," Rin said happily, "are there any plans or pictures of the old place?"

"Ah, well" Totosai explained, apologetically, "that's going to be a problem see, he was very secretive about the garden, so the only ones who saw it are his second wife and eldest son, but he was only four at the time and honestly doesn't remember all that much of it. As for plans, I don't know _where _he put them; he could have hidden them in his bedroom for all I know."

"Well, what about the second wife?" Kagome asked politely, "maybe she can help us out."

"She, um, can't" came the mumbled reply, "Lady Izaoi is no longer with us, she passed away when her son was four."

"Oh how terrible," Kagome gasped, "we're so sorry to hear that."

"No need to apologize, you ladies didn't know so it's quite alright around me, but I wouldn't bring it up around InuYasha."

"Why not?" Kagome asked.

"Well," Totosai stammered, "InuYasha is…touchy when it comes to topic of his mother, gets very defensive and protective over her."

"Ah, that's understandable," Rin said quietly, following both her partner and Totosai through an extravagant garden, eyeing all the flowers and plants with interest. "The garden out here is beautiful, if you don't mind me asking, why not hold the party out here?"

"Because we want the centennial anniversary to be special, and holding it in the garden that was created by the man that brought the company to its peak within thirty years seemed extremely fitting," Totosai explained, "but unfortunately, it needs a bit of work before that can happen."

"Well, we'll try our best," Kagome said confidently, patting Rin on the shoulder as they both giggled.

"Excellent!" Totosai said, stepping off the path and towards an overgrown hedge and wooden gate locked by a padlock.

Flipping through his many keys and stopping at one that was as large and as rusted as the lock. Turning the key, the lock creaked before snapping open and allowing Totosai to remove the large metal object off the double doors.

"Now we plan on removing the gates for the party seeing as they've become quite rotted and rusted and we want the garden nice and open for the party," Totosai said, pushing the doors open and revealing what remained of the garden.

"Oh my," Kagome said, holding a hand to her mouth at the sight of the garden.

It was a mess, overgrown weeds had occupied most if not all of the garden and there were many dead branches littered from one of the dying trees. The pathway was cracked and tiles that made the winding pathway had several missing, overgrown with clumps of grass. Near the far end on the garden, a mass of rocks and basin made up the old waterfall, small but quite charming in the space provided.

Stepping over the mass of weeds and overgrowth, Rin came to kneel by the small pond, eyeing the small bridge joining one end from the pond to the other. Her eyes came to see the large cherry tree at the corner of the garden, grinning when she saw tin buds growing on it.

"Well?" Totosai asked timidly, "how bad are the damages?"

Kagome laughed, "if I know Rin, and I do, judging by the look on her face, we can make this work."

"Hopefully," Rin added, standing up, "depending on whether or not we can find the plans."

"And the budget," Kagome finished looking at Totosai, "now, about that-"

"_That _you'll have to discuss with the owners I'm afraid, while I am allowed to bring you up to speed and tell you the plans, I am not given permission to talk about money, Sesshomaru was vehemently against it."

"Sesshomaru?"

"The eldest son, from his first marriage; he and InuYasha are only half-brothers but they don't even like being called that. If I may be blunt, they despise one another and are constantly at each other's throats, sometimes literally," Totosai said sighing, "Sesshomaru hates InuYasha as he blames him for the his parent's divorce and since he can't stand humans, he hates that he shares his bloodline with someone who has human in him, and InuYasha resents Sesshomaru for always looking down at him."

"That would certainly cause a rift between the two," Kagome commented as Rin approached the two, "never the less, we need to talk to them in any case, considering that this is their garden were redoing."

"Very well, come this way," Totosai said, guiding the girls out and locking the garden gates behind him, "here's the key," he said handing it to Kagome, "don't lose it and lock it up when you're done, don't want any paparazzi getting a shot now do we?"

"No Sir," Rin replied smiling, taking the key out of Kagome's hand; Kagome was notorious for losing things.

"Right, this way then," Totosai said, leading the girls towards the imposing manor, holding open the back door for them and closing it behind them.

Totosai beckoned them to follow but was interrupted by a bouncing chubby man running towards Totosai at full tilt, a worried look plastered on his face.

"Totosai, we need your help!" He exclaimed, fretting and fidgeting.

"Now?"

"Now!"

Totosai sighed, massaging his temples with his long thin fingers.

"Um, the Masters are just up the stairs and in the office, that's the fourth door on the right when you turn left up the stairs," Totosai said, an apologetic look crossing his face as he turned to the girls.

"We'll find our way, don't you worry," Kagome said, turning to the stairs followed closely by Rin.

"Just follow the sounds of an argument, you'll find them, if you need me I'll be in the downstairs office," Totosai called over his shoulder, hurrying after the needle-nosed man as the girls ascended the stairs.

"An argument?" Rin asked, "how bad can it be?"

Kagome shrugged her shoulders, and turned left up the stairs, following Totosai's directions as they came to a large hallway. Stepping down the corridor, Rin and Kagome looked interestedly at their surroundings, careful not to touch anything that looked vastly expensive.

"Shut up filthy half-breed!"

A potted plant came soaring out of an open door and would have surely hit the girls had Rin not pushed Kagome down and out of the way. Crashing against the wall, the dirt stained the wall while the plant itself feel to the ground.

"Don't tell me to shut up you pathetic dog!" A second gruffer voice came, equally as angry.

Rin and Kagome glanced at each other, gaining their nerves before they pushed open the door and gently announced their arrival.

"Um, excuse us?" Rin asked timidly from behind Kagome, Trying to avoid the dispute between the two brothers.

"What!" They both growled, turning to glare at their new arrivals, fury etched onto their faces.

The half demon stood in the center of the room, his hands curled into fists as he fought his brother who was now standing over the desk with his clawed hand's on the desk, his eyes flickering from the beautiful amber his brother shared, to a deadly blood red.

"Um, we're here about the garden?" Kagome asked, hoping she sounded braver than she felt at the moment.

"Oh, right," came the half-demon in the center of the room in the same embarrassed voice he had used over the intercom when he let them up.

Straightening up, the elder of the two walked around the desk to introduce himself, "my name is Sesshomaru and this _disgrace _is InuYasha, what is it you two want?" Sesshomaru asked, his eyes narrowing at the girls.

"Um, Totosai sent us up here to smooth over a few details, but if we can come back at a better time…" Rin trailed off, stepping from behind Kagome.

"No, now's a good as time as any," InuYasha grumbled as his brother moved back to the desk and bent over to pull out a file.

"Here's your budget, I take it that's what you're here for," Sesshomaru said coolly, handing the file over his desk, where Rin gently took it with slender hands.

"Thank You Sir," Rin said with a small bow to Sesshomaru as she handed the file to Kagome could look over the finances.

"Before I forget, are there any plans or old photographs of the garden? If you want a complete restoration of the garden I would need those," Rin asked, swallowing her fear of setting off the imposing demon in front of her.

"No," Sesshomaru responded curtly, "my father was very secretive of his garden and he never took any pictures of it nor did he have any plans of it."

"Are you sure?" Kagome interjected, peering around InuYasha to look at his brother.

"Quite," Sesshomaru said flickering his steely gaze at Kagome, making her duck behind InuYasha.

"Would you mind terribly if I had a look through old plans of the house and gardens? They might be in there," Rin asked, hoping that she could still salvage their reputation.

Sesshomaru just turned his gave back to Rin, pushing his elbows off his desk and standing to his full height before looking down at Rin.

"Very well, you may look through the plans, but _only _through the house plans, nothing more. They're in a cabinet in the library, Totosai can show you where if you so desire."

"Thank You, we'll stop wasting your time and start weeding the garden," Rin said with a short bow as she pushed Kagome out of the room and down the flight of stairs to start their new job.

* * *

**Well ? many reviews please.**


	2. Chapter 2

Tee hee ^^ back with this one, hopefully it'll take off more than I hoped, but it's worth a shot right?

**AN - I don't own InuYasha**

* * *

"He's such an-_ump_-ASS!" Kagome grunted, heaving the shovel out of the basin at the foot of the waterfall.

"Kagome, don't –_rg – _talk that way about our employers!" Rin snapped, yanking hard on an overgrown weed, throwing the plant in on a large burning pile before wiping the sweat off her brow and sighing. "Which one?" she asked cheekily, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Kagome straightened her back, "both I guess," she stretched, "but that Sesshomaru was probably the bigger of the two, at least his brother _talked _to us."

"He's probably got a lot on his mind about planning the party and the company and this garden and-"

"Don't make excused for him!" Kagome interrupted, returning quickly to her work, "besides, have you _seen _the budget? Not exactly a big spender here, though he could probably afford to be."

Rin sighed, "how do you think the rich stay rich?" she murmured. "At any rate," she said, changing the subject before Kagome took off on yet another one of her famous tangents, knowing that the woman could easily go for months on her grudges, "perhaps we should call it a day, the sun'll be gone in about thirty minutes."

Kagome looked up at Rin and sighed in agreement, reaching out a hand for Rin's assistance. Grasping it firmly, Rin pulled Kagome out of the mud filled pit, emanating a loud squelching sound as Kagome's feet left the water. Unclasping the suspenders on her massive overalls that kept her jeans from becoming messy, Kagome slipped out of the massive garment and pulled off her rubber boots, tossing them up over her arm and holding the boots in the same hand.

"Ladies!"

Both women turned to see Totosai marching towards, stumbling and trying to balance over mounds of weeds and dirt.

"Hello Totosai!" Kagome called, waving her arms above her head, spraying mud and God knew what else around, "Oh Jeez! I'm so sorry Rin!" Kagome cried, finally noticing Rin wiping bits of mud of her face, a direct result of Kagome's enthusiasm.

"It's alright Kagome, just watch what you're doing next time," Rin grumbled as Totosai cam to stand in front of them.

"Hello Ladies! Work going well?"

"As well as can be expected," Kagome proudly announced, "but I was wondering, could we maybe hire some manual labour to help clear the field? I'm worried it'll be too much for the both of us."

"Sounds fair, let's discuss that over dinner then hmm? The chef has prepared a wonderful roast beef but rather predictably, both _children _refuse to eat it so, instead of wasting such a meal, we thought that perhaps you would like to join us-"

"Done." Kagome announced, her entire face lighting up at the idea of a delicious meal made by some high class chef.

"I guess we're in" Rin smiled, "but can we wash up first? I don't think that I want to show up at the dinner table covered in mud and smelling like smoke."

Totosai laughed, "of course, this way ladies, I'll show you to your rooms and let you freshen up."

Following the elderly man into the house, Rin and Kagome walked carefully around the expensive looking rugs so as not to drip mud on them and followed Totosai up the stairs to an elegant door which Totosai pushed open, leaving the girls jaws on the floor. The room was splendid, cream-coloured walls matched the carpeting which sported two double mahogany-wood beds that held deep red-coloured blankets edged with gold trim practically glittering from the light of the Victorian style wall sconces.

"Um, you might have the wrong room," Rin said meekly, finally regain control of her voice.

"Oh, no, this is your room."

"But, isn't it, y'know, the _guest _bedroom?" Kagome asked, giving Totosai and incredulous look.

"It is," Totosai agreed, "but we rarely get any guests in this household as you can well imagine and because of that this room doesn't get used so often so I thought, since we have you here, you can stay in this room."

"But, we're not guests," Kagome protested, "and besides, won't InuYasha and _especially _Sesshomaru freak when they find out where we're staying."

"Oh, they already know; it was part of my little agreement to get you here."

"What do you mean?" Rin asked, her curiosity suddenly peaked.

"They wanted that garden fixed so badly for the anniversary that I sort of told them that if they wanted me to get them the best, they would put you up here."

"But we _can't _stay here," Kagome pretested once more, "we wouldn't feel right," she finished as Rin nodded her agreement.

"Well then, too bad," Totosai said smugly, walking past the girls a certain smugness in his voice as he passed them, "please by down in twenty minutes alright? Thank you!"

Rin and Kagome just stood there in the room, both stunned into silence. Normally, their rooms were either akin to servant's quarters, two simple single beds, a night stand between them, and a bathroom down the hall with a shower if they were lucky or they were in a hotel at least a half hour away from their job.

Stepping gingerly into their room, Kagome maneuvered her dirty overalls and muddy boots over to the en-suite bathroom, laying them carefully on the tiled floor.

"Um, are you one hundred percent sure about this Kagome?" Rin asked, digging through her luggage that the servants had placed inside the room from them, pulling out a dress and simple flats, laying them gently on one of the beds and walking over to the bathroom, peering inside, trying hard to gape at the marble tiling, pewter sinks and fixtures, low lighting, and a beautiful Victorian bath tub comfortable enough for two people.

"Hell no!" Kagome responded, "I'm not even comfortable lying my muddy overalls in the _bathroom _for God's sake."

Rin sighed, stepping over said mud covered overalls to reach the tub and turn on the hot and cold taps for the bath tub, testing the water until it came to a temperature that she felt comfortable with. Placing in the stopper, Rin began pulling off her shirt and pants, followed immediately by her bra and underwear. Stepping into the warm water, Rin felt her muscles relax as the hot liquid soothed them, sighing as she eased into the water, her eyes closing in relaxation.

The creak of the door opening and closing along with the click of the door shutting alerted Rin to the other occupant in the room, her eyes shooting open as she shot up in the tub.

"Relax Rin, it's just me," Kagome laughed, locking the door firmly behind her. Stepping towards her, Kagome pulled off her own shirt and pants, letting them fall to the floor besides Rin's.

"What are you doing Kagome?"

"I'm getting in with you," Kagome answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I figured that," Rin responded with the same tone as Kagome, "why?"

"We need to be down in twenty minutes right? It'll be faster if we go in together. I smell like sewage and you smell like smoke."

"Fine," Rin conceded, moving aside make room for her friend, "hop in."

"Gladly," Kagome smiled, slipping into the hot water on the opposite side of Rin, facing her friend and business partner, stretching in comfort.

Gripping the soap, Rin ran it over her arms, legs and body, paying extra attention to her face where she had had mud splatter on her. Finishing her lather, Rin tossed the bar over to Kagome, splashing the water over her skin in order to rinse of the white foam.

"So, what's on deck for tomorrow?"

Rin looked up at Kagome who was also soaping herself up, her legs being the area she felt needing the most attention.

"Um, well," Rin started, putting her finger to her lips as she thought about Kagome's question, "if we can't get manual labour, then we'll be pulling weeds till it's cleared, which could easily take a week, not to mention I want to have a look at the mechanics of the waterfall, see what we can't do about it, and I _need _to find those damn plans, I have no doubt in my mind that he must have made some, whether or not Sesshomaru thinks so."

Rin felt like slapping a hand to her mouth at the mention of Sesshomaru's name, Kagome's face contorting in to something Rin knew all too well.

"Sesshomaru, that jerk! How can he act like that? I mean, just cause he's rich doesn't give him a right! It's not like he _owns _us, we can walk out any damn time we want, right Rin?"

Rin just looked at Kagome before sighing heavily, hoisting her small frame out of the warm water, the liquid dripping off her body as she stepped elegantly out of the tub, her hands grabbing the plush towel and wrapping it around her body, rubbing herself down with the soft material.

"Yeah, I guess Kagome," Rin said in a bored voice, "but can we not discuss it while working on _his _job, please?"

Kagome opened her mouth, wanting to day something further, but Rin's tired look quieted her, sagging her shoulders as she exhaled loudly in defeat.

"Fine, you win," she conceded stepping out of the bath and drying off as Rin did, the two towel-clad girls leaving the bathroom and slipping into their clothes for the evening, Rin her summer's dress, and Kagome her skirt and blouse combination.

Truly, their dinner wasn't a formal event, but the girls felt necessary to put in a little effort into their appearance. Checking the clock above the center of both beds, Rin gulped as she realized that both girls had less than five minutes to get down to the kitchens in time for Totosai's request.

"Hey Kagome! We're gonna be late!" Rin called over the whine of the hairdryer.

"I'm commin'" Kagome grumbled as she shut the machine off, "you ready?"

"Since five minutes ago yes," Rin responded, standing impatiently by the door as Kagome came out of the bathroom.

"Right right, sorry for making you- what is that?"

Rin looked to where she was pointing, following her finger until she saw the potted plat held up by a splint and sitting in one of their ceramic pots.

"Don't you remember, Sesshomaru nearly took our heads off with that when-"

"I know what it is," Kagome snapped impatiently, "I meant, what it is doing _here._"

"Well I couldn't just let it die now could I?" Rin protested "It only needs a patch job and it'll be good as new, better than throwing it out with all the other trash. Speaking of which, we should get down to the kitchen before that's where our dinner will end up. Come on."

Without another word to her stunned partner, Rin turned and left the room, her feet making quick and gentle steps towards the kitchens.

Kagome stood in shock for a moment longer before smiling and following Rin. This was always typical of her, always caring for everything and everyone, be it plants animals or people.

Making their way down the carpeted staircase, Rin and Kagome settled into a peaceful silence, their noses leading them as they followed the wonderful smells emanating from what was surely the kitchen. Pushing through the cherry wood double doors, the girls were met with a splendid dining hall, crystal chandeliers glittering from the high ceiling cast a golden glow on everything it touched, silverware practically sparkled in their cabinets, polished to perfection. Stepping carefully around the grand table, Rin and Kagome made their way towards the double doors at the end of the hall, pushing them open and marching in together.

"Ah Ladies! Right on time!"

Rin and Kagome both smiled at the greying man, looking around quickly the kitchen, surprised at how much smaller it seemed in comparison to everything else in the house. A simple dishwasher, stove, and several other utilities lay in an organized manner against the walls, surrounding two separate tables, one that was obviously for preparation, and the other for eating at, chairs surrounding it now occupied by the other servants, all smiling and waving.

"Now, you've already met Myoga, the woman by the stove is his wife Shoga, and the wispy looking thing is named Saya. Gentlemen and Lady, these are the gardeners, Rin and Kagome, they'll be staying with us for about five weeks."

"Welcome welcome," The old lady named Shoga smiled, lifting a steaming pan filled with what the girls would guess was a roast, "come ladies, it'll get cold."

Grinning at each other Rin and Kagome took their seats at the table, their mouths watering at the sight of the slices of beef Shoga placed in front of them.

* * *

Gales of laughter emanated from the kitchen, girls and servants alike exchanging stories and jokes that lasted well after the dinner was finished. Sipping her wine, Rin smiled as she heard Kagome telling the same story she had heard at least a hundred times, enjoying the reactions the others gave as Kagome rambled on and on.

"What the fuck is going on here!?"

The entire kitchen whipped around to look at InuYasha standing by the kitchen door, his jaw clenching and his face livid.

"Well?" he pressed, "someone care to tell me why both the servants and the gardeners aren't doing their _jobs?"_

"Because it's dinnertime, InuYasha, and we were enjoying ourselves, would you care to join us since you decided to grace us with your presence?" Totosai responded sweetly, standing up and sweeping his arms around the table.

"Like hell!" InuYasha snapped, "and it's _Master_ InuYasha to you, you old fart!"

"Hey!" Kagome interjected, standing up and glaring at the half demon, "what the hell's your problem!?"

InuYasha rounded on her, his golden eyes narrowing and his lip curling, "my _problem, _is people that are under _our _payroll are talking back to me Ms.-"

"Higurashi, Kagome Higurashi, and that doesn't give you the right to treat them like a slave!"

"Technically," a cold voice cut in, "it's _my _money InuYasha, _you_ don't have much contribution to that."

If the room had lost its joyful demeanor when InuYasha entered the room, it had dropped dead out of the sky and been run over when Sesshomaru stood into the kitchen, the staff and gardeners feeling the chill run down their spines.

"At any rate," Sesshomaru continued, "I am just as curious as InuYasha as to _why _no wok is being done in my house."

"Well, that's cause we're having dinner that _you _refused to eat with the lovely gardeners that can't work on the garden at night because your wallet is too tight."

Rin saw Sesshomaru's beautiful features twist as he tried to keep his calm composure, "if you weren't loyal to my father-"

"-I'd be outta here," Totosai finished Sesshomaru's threat, "than it's a good thing I am eh?"

"For you, yes," Sesshomaru growled through clenched teeth, "You had all better not be drinking _my _wine," he added, noticing the glasses around the kitchen table and the one in Rin's hand.

"Of course not," Shoga cut in, her four arms going straight to her hips, her eyes narrowing despite her husband's flailing of arms that symbolized her to stop at all costs, "I have my own here, considering all of yours just seem to collect dust."

"They're expensive-"

"Wine is made to share around a dinner table with friends! Not business partners with fat greedy fingers in even fatter wallets!"

Sesshomaru glared at Shoga, almost daring her to say anther word as he rounded on the gardeners, "I trust you'll both be working as soon as you can in the morning?"

"Yes sir-"

"And what's _your _problem?" Kagome cut Rin off, glaring at Sesshomaru, "just cause your rich doesn't give you the right to do and say whatever the hell you-"

"If you still want this job," Sesshomaru snapped icily, "I suggest you stop."

Kagome glared daggers at Sesshomaru, "well you don't need to be a jerk about it!"

InuYasha and Rin both struggled to pick their jaws up from the floor while Sesshomaru turned fully to Kagome.

"Care to repeat that little comment?"

"Sure, I said-"

"Nothing!"

Kagome and Sesshomaru both turned to Rin, utterly shocked at her outburst.

"She said nothing, sir," Rin finished, standing up, "she and I were actually retiring for the night for a fresh start in the morning, right, Kagome?"

Kagome looked at Rin, her eyes telling Kagome not to say another word out of fear for their job.

"Yeah, right," Kagome grumbled, her jaw clenching and her arms crossing over her chest.

"Alright then, let's go Kagome," Rin smiled and pulled the girls arm away from the two scowling demons, bowing to Sesshomaru as they made their way out the double doors.

"But Rin-"

"Do _not, _blow this job for us Kagome, I swear if you do I'm dropping you, on your ass _alone, _got it?"

Kagome looked at Rin with shocked eyes, knowing that the young woman would easily make good on her threat. Swallowing her fear, Kagome slowly nodded her head and allowed Rin to drag her to their room, not one word of protest escaping her lips.

Throwing open the door to their bedroom, Rin finally let go of Kagome's arm, throwing her shoes across the floor.

"Oh, shoot, I left something in the kitchen, I'll be right back," she laughed, turning out of the room barefoot and shutting it slowly behind her.

Sighing Rin walked a few steps toward the hall corner, making sure she was out of earshot of the guest bedroom.

"Can we talk?"

Rin turned gently to the demon leaning against the wall, his amber eyes boring into hers.

"About what? The insubordination of your partner, or perhaps why I shouldn't kick you off this job?"

"I can't apologize for my partner, but I can give you good reasons as to why we shouldn't be fired."

"Such as?"

"We're the best at what we do, and I'm willing to bet that you really don't want the stress of finding _another _gardener to do this job on top of everything else."

"Is that all? Really, I expected-"

"I can also make sure that no gardener takes your request, it's as easy as making a phone call."

Sesshomaru looked down at the dark-eyed beauty, her face never losing its mask of calm.

"Would you?"

Rin put a delicate finger to her lips, "no, I wouldn't, I'm not that kind of person, besides, you can destroy our reputation far easier than I could ever hope to. What I'm getting at" Rin continued, holding her hands up to stop Sesshomaru from cutting her off, "is that I'm here to beg you not to fire us, please? I know Kagome can be a handful but I've dealt with worse. Once we're done this job you'll never see us again, I promise."

Sesshomaru felt his eyes soften at the sight of the innocent woman in front of him with her hands clasped together in front of her. Normally, begging would just disgust him, but for some reason, he felt compelled to help her in any way he could.

"Fine," Sesshomaru conceded through gritted teeth, "but _one _more word from your partner and your both off the job, am I clear?"

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Rin blushed, smiling and bowing to him and leaving him standing against the corner, watching as her petite form walked delicately back to her room.

"Never see you again, huh?" Sesshomaru murmured, walking away from the guest room, trying to figure out why his chest felt constricted at that thought.

* * *

**REVIEWS!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Holy Shit...pulled an all nighter watching Lord of the Rings, and look where it got me... UPDATE ALL THE STORIES :DDDDD**

**AN - I don't own InuYasha**

* * *

The clouded sun beat strongly on the bended backs of both gardeners; sweat beading on their foreheads as they grunted in exertion, the weeds in their gloved hands giving no sign of surrender as the roots clung to the earth with success. Guttural grunts were heard from the women as they tugged and tore at the pants, some so overgrown Rin and Kagome had considered just setting the entire field on fire and be done with the damn thing.

"Riiiin!"

The woman looked over at the partner who had whined her named, her own cheeks red as she puffed along with her foot in the shovel, her arm wiping away the water dripping down her brow.

"What is it Kagome?" she asked, her temper kept under check for fear of snapping at her friend.

"Why couldn't we just hire a bunch of hot half-naked sweaty men to pull out these weeds while we sip lemonade and enjoy the view?"

"As I recall," Rin responded, her shovel digging back into the large root, "you – _rrg – _were the one – _mmph _– who told me we didn't have the budget," she grunted, finally succeeding in removing the long root from the soil.

The other girl sighed in defeat; she knew Rin was right but at this rate, both girls couldn't get the garden weeded in time much less have it planted and growing by the time the party was in full swing.

"Also, I doubt the two brother's would appreciate the idea of having hot half-naked men wandering around their property."

Both young women turned to the sound of the voice, the wizened form Totosai approached the two of them holding a tray filled with tall cold drinks of lemonade and sandwiches.

"Pardon me," he apologized, "I couldn't help but overhear you two; I thought you ladies might like some lemonade and sandwiches after all the hard work you've done this morning."

The faint blush that had spread across their cheeks in embarrassment of being caught was lost amongst the flushed faces of work, both women relieved to see a break.

"That sounds wonderful," Kagome told him gratefully, "thank you so much."

The old man just waved his hand at the young women, "it's no trouble ladies, you've done such hard work already and it's only you're first few days, we're very impressed!"

"We?" Rin asked, taking a sip of her drink, "does that include the masters?"

Totosai laughed, "unfortunately no, both of them are too focused on their own selfish needs to notice something so trivial as another's hard work and dedication to their event."

Both Rin and Kagome laughed at the man's words, the formers hands covering her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she said smiling, "we should laugh about that."

"Oh but you must," the greying man insisted, "how else do you think we get though our daily lives?"

The girls looked at each other before Kagome turned to speak, "is life here…really that bad?"

Totosai paused for a moment, his eyes looking around the garden before speaking lowly to the young women.

"To be honest, it's more uncomfortable than anything else," he began, "when their father was alive, the house was full of life and laughter, even the young Sesshomaru seemed to be happy at the time, though the boy was only three at the time. Now though, the house is dull, lifeless, and empty though people live in it, much in the same way a haunted house is occupied with the ghosts of the past. Both boys never see eye to eye on any matter when it comes to a matter on their father or his money. True, they are smart business men, but their hearts are so cold now that it hardly matters how successful they are."

The uncomfortable silence settled around the three like a fog, dense enough to see yet so little there was to do about but stare into the abyss.

"That's just stupid."

Rin and Totosai looked over at Kagome in shock.

"What do you-"

"Don't they know?" Kagome asked wagging her finger, "money can't buy them happiness and neither can attitude."

"Strong words from someone who's employed by _us_."

Rin felt chills run down her spine at the sound of the deep baritone, the voice causing her to look over her shoulder in surprise at the sight of not only Sesshomaru walking towards her but his brother as well, the half-demon keeping well behind his elder, the distain in his eyes indicating that he was not fond of his position.

"What are you-"

"What can we do for you," Rin cut in, gently treading on Kagome's foot so as to silence her from any and all comments that threatened to tumble out of her lips.

InuYasha pointed a finger at the petite girl, "_you_ can tell us just what the hell you-"

"InuYasha!"

The half-demon was cut off by his brother's harsh glare, the younger of the two looking as though he was going to start a war, but the look in his brother's eye told him that this as neither the time nor the place for such and act.

"We've come to see how much progress you've made given the time frame," Sesshomaru murmured, "unfortunately, things are not how I expected."

"Are they ever?" Kagome snapped, a strangled cry muffled through bitten lips as Rin deliberately stomped on her foot harshly.

Dark amber eyes glared at the outspoken girl before Rin took up the mantel.

"If you want to see what we have planned I can show you over here," she told the imposing demon, gesturing over to the work bench she had set up under the tent at the corner of the garden.

"Very well," he agreed quietly, following the young woman over to the table, his brother and the other gardener left to exchange dark glares at one another before InuYasha chose to look around the garden as his brother did.

"Is this it?" he asked in disgust, "this is all you can get done in three days?"

"Hey!" Kagome snapped, "it's more than you could do in the time frame, I dare you to try and get this much done!"

"Oi!" InuYasha said gruffly, turning to face Kagome, "your friend is right, you need to shut your mouth if you want this job! _I_ can actually fire you too ya know!"

"Hmph! I highly doubt that," the girl told him with her nose held high in the air, her arms crossed over her chest, InuYasha visibly twitching at her statement.

"What did you say?" he growled, anger etching onto his features as his hands balled into fists.

"I said," Kagome goaded him, "I highly doubt that," she teased, enunciating every word in her sentence with her hands on her hips and her face leaning towards him.

"You stupid-"

"InuYasha!"

The bickering couple looked over at the stern voice, Sesshomaru turning from Rin to glare whole-heartedly at his brother.

"Enough!" he roared causing all four present to flinch, Kagome and InuYasha to lapse into silence, both stunned and at a loss for words for once, neither one of them feeling the need to continue their argument in his presence.

His face still a mask of distain, Sesshomaru turned back to the plans Rin had of his garden.

"Go on," he ordered, gesturing to the paper.

"Um, r-right," she stammered, "w-well, we found what looks like an old path around the garden, so Kagome and I unearthed some tiles and washed them down," her fingers pointed to the clean ceramic laying on one side of the table, "so the plan is to see if we can't find the same tile and use them to fill in the gaps of the path."

"And if you can't?" Sesshomaru inquired, the girl tracing the pattern with her fingers.

"You're family crest looks like this, right?" Rin asked, unfurling yet another piece of paper, her fingers tracing two designs, "then we were thinking of using other red tiles to make the flower and fill the gaps in with white gravel and boarder the garden with stone."

Rin looked up as the amber eyes trailed down her patterned design, his face an impassive mask as his fingers trailed over the work. He would never say it out loud, but he was impressed, the design intricate and beautiful, honoring the family and its traditions.

"Um."

The timid voice broke his concentration, her deep brown eyes looking at his with slight worry and searching for something.

"Do – Do you like it?" Rin asked, "I can try and find something else if you like-"

"It's fine," Sesshomaru told her, "it will work for the time being."

Rin nodded, rolling up the plans for the pathway and turning them to her bag.

"The waterfall?"

"That just seems like a pipe blockage more than anything else," Rin confessed, "it can be done within three days of hard work at the most."

"And if it can't?"

A second roll of paper was pulled out, "then Kagome and I will put lily pads and hanging plants in there for the time being and you'll have to take them out when you hire someone else to fix the waterfall if you want it done so badly. The colour scheme is more of greens, whites, and some pinks for that part."

At his nod Rin pressed on, "when it comes to the rest of the garden though, I don't know how to proceed unfortunately, I'd need the original plans in order to actually get the work on the actual garden done."

Sesshomaru looked over at her, "you can't guess?"

The brunette shook her head, "no, I don't have time to do something like a soil composition and guessing at the genus and species based on what dried up roots are here could take an eternity, so unless you want to give me free reign, I need to search your library."

Sesshomaru chewed his lip. He had already agreed to give her supervised accessed to his library, but was still uncomfortable at the idea of some woman he didn't know walking through his books.

"I've already given you permission provided someone is there with you," he told her, "but only when you can spare the time. If you can't find the plans in two weeks, make up some designs on your own and bring them to my attention. The flowers don't have to last forever, but at least make them decent for the event."

"Yes sir," Rin conceded, rolling up the plans and stuffing them in the same bag as the first, "is that everything?"

"No, actually," Sesshomaru told her, standing up to look down at her, "I thought you were supposed to have her keep her temper and hold her tongue."

Rin sighed, "I try my best but she's stubborn and independent, save for putting a collar on her, there isn't much I can do."

Sesshomaru gritted his teeth, "I don't much care for people mouthing off to me."

"I'm aware of this," she said exasperatedly, "but if you keep having issues with her, just send her to InuYasha."

"No." Sesshomaru told her, "I get enough headaches as it is, I don't need those two going at it to add to the pain-"

"Then send _him _out _here_," Rin asked, her ungloved hand unintentionally reaching out to touch his arm, "we're not here to cause trouble, both Kagome and I are here to do the work you hired us to do and if you send InuYasha to deal with Kagome, then I can find some way to deal with them both, please?"

A large clawed hand reached up to pull hers off of his, his hand surprisingly gently for all the strength and attention it commanded.

"Very well," he told her softly, "I don't usually give out this many chances to my employees, but considering the time constraint, I'll allow it."

"Thank you sir," Rin called after him as he strode away from her, beckoning InuYasha to follow him, the half-demon sneering once at Kagome before he followed after his brother, Kagome sticking out her tongue like some juvenile five-year old, the both of them too absorbed in each other's bickering to notice Sesshomaru touch the sleeve where Rin's hand had been, his fingers enjoying the feeling of warmth that lingered on his clothing.

* * *

**So um, yeah, just a short little plot deveolpment on both relationships in the story...nothing fancy**

**Review review review ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Finally Updated ^^ sorry for the delay my lovelies ^^ Hope it's worth it!**

**AN - I don't own InuYasha**

* * *

The shinning sun beat down on the two workers relentlessly, Rin ever thankful for the other servants that resided at the manor and their consideration for the two gardeners, the elderly men and women carrying out cool perspiring drinks for them. Straightening up, Rin groaned as she stretched her sore muscles, her arm wiping the sweat off her brow while she sighed, the sound of the argument beside her unceasing and unrelenting.

True to his word, Sesshomaru sent the younger brother out to check and see on their work, something Rin had interpreted as the elder had finally had enough of his younger brother and needed a few moments of peace and quiet, much to Rin's lack of it. For some reason, Kagome insisted on snapping at the other brother the second he opened his mouth; then again, it wasn't as though the other had any sort of compliment to pay the two girls.

"I can't believe you can't figure this out!"

"Alright then genius, _you _do it!"

"Clearly," the half-demon barked, "_you're _the genius who can't understand the concept of _paying _someone to do a job _for _you!"

"Well you-"

"Kagome!"

The fighting couple looked over to see Rin looking over at them with her hands across her chest.

"Instead of arguing with InuYasha, why don't we try turning on the falls and see if it works now that we've cleaned it out a little?"

Kagome looked over at her friend, her eyes still angered by the argument she was having, her mouth open while her lingering sentence died on her lips from the glint in Rin's eye, the look that always told her to knock off whatever she was doing.

"B-But I don't think it's ready," she protested calmly to her friend, who merely smiled in return, Kagome sighing in defeat, grumbling out an extremely disgruntled, "fine."

"That's wonderful," Rin smiled, clapping her hands, "how about I go get your brother and then we can all see the unveiling?"

The half-demon grumbled as he looked to the other woman, his own arms crossed in anger and her eyes ever ready for another argument.

"I'll take that as a yes," Rin told the bickering pair, turning on her heels and striding towards the house, "please refrain from killing each other until I get back okay?"

Rin made her way swiftly towards the large mansion, her smile faltering as she hears the sounds of a new argument starting up. Groaning slightly, the young woman carefully weave around the perfectly manicured grass and up the graveled path, purposefully avoiding the tiled one for fear of traipsing mud over what was surely washed tiling.

Her muddied boots were removed at the entrance and she tenderly took to the second floor towards Sesshomaru's study, her light feet hardly making any sound on the carpeting. The darkened wooden door was closed when Rin arrived, her knock timid as she feared that he would be extremely busy in preparations for everything.

"You may come in."

Her shoulders relaxing in relief, Rin gently pushed open the door to gently peer inside, the dog demon hunched over his papers while his head moved from side to side before startling amber eyes looked up to meet hers.

"Yes, is there something I can help you with?" he asked her curtly, his eyebrows narrowing.

"Um-w-well," Rin stammered softly, faltering slightly under his intense gaze. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she pressed on, "Kagome and I have removed most of the blockage from the pipes and would like to try turning it on, would you care to join us?"

His eyes stared the poor woman in front of him down, his face never once giving away a single thought that ran through his mind.

"I have work to do," he began muttering softly to himself, looking back down at his papers before up to Rin slightly hopeful face once more, sighing softly, "I suppose, however, I can take a little break from it."

The young woman smiled broadly while bowing to him, "thank you so much!"

Sesshomaru huffed as he followed her out of his study, the energy that radiated from her, while the same as her friend, was not of the same magnitude, hers was more contained, almost calmer. She kept a safe distance from him as she led him down his stairs before slipping on her own muddied boots.

"Shall we go?"

Rin nearly jumped a foot in the air when she had hear the closeness of his voice, his wide brown eyes turned up to meet his, his head tilted to the side as he looked down at her.

"U-Uh, sure," she stammered, her hand reaching for the door, the larger hand grasping it before she did, her eyes turning back to Sesshomaru in surprise, the dog demon pulling open the door for her.

"Th-Thank you," she stammered softly, steeping out into the bright sunlight while Sesshomaru nodded once before slipping out of his manor behind her, the door shutting softly after him.

The two lapsed into silence as they made their way across the manicured lawn towards the secret garden, Rin flushing from embarrassment as she wrung her hands together out of nervousness. The reason she had kept her distance from the demon was because she had spent almost all day digging around in the garden and had not wanted her employer to be repulsed by the smell of sweat and soil that lingered around her.

"I'm sorry," Rin began nervously, wishing that she had not shattered the stillness surrounding them as it made the tension even more awkward, "I'm sorry that we're pulling you away from your work, this will be short I promise you."

"Even if it isn't," the dog demon cut in curtly, "I'm only staying for a few moments before returning."

"Of course," she murmured, wincing slightly when the faded voices of InuYasha and Kagome arguing reached her ears, knowing that if she was only just hearing it, the dog demon beside her with impeccable hearing could have picked it up the minute they stepped outside the manor.

The two entered through the gate to the sight of Kagome and InuYasha having yet _another _row, though the cause remained unknown to the other two as they approached the other two, neither one of them having any patience for their fighting, Rin having put up with it for almost every waking hour she worked and Sesshomaru not one to put up with his brother for any reason.

"ENOUGH!"

Both heads turned in shock to the sound of both other voices shouting in unison at the others, Sesshomaru and Rin equally as surprised at the other though the former concealed his from the others in his presence.

"Look," Rin continued, doing her best to retain what shreds of her composure she could in front of her employers and her friend, "since we're all here, why don't we see if the fall is working? Kagome, would you do us the honor?"

"Gladly," the other huffed, turning from her partner to the half-demon standing in front of her, "_now _we'll _prove _that _I'm _right!"

InuYasha snorted, "more like it'll fail and _I'm _right; typical women, absolutely no clue when it comes to _man _things!"

"Why you Son of a-"

"Kagome!" Rin snapped at her, "the water, please?!"

"Hmph!" her friend turned on her heel and marched determinedly over to the back of the large rock formation, InuYasha following her every step, his own eyes full of determination.

"Ahem! Lady, gentlemen and…thing," Kagome announced, spitting out the last word towards InuYasha who scowled in response while Rin buried her face in her hand, praying that this would end swiftly, "I give you, water!"

Her arms turned the large red wheel in cleverly hidden in the rocks, the squeaking of the metal moving replaced swiftly with the sound of the gurgling water in the pipes followed by a dribble of water shooting from the pipe concealed in the rocks and InuYasha's smirk.

"See?!" he goaded at Kagome, who had run to see if her work had succeeded or failed, her face falling for a moment at the result, "I _told _you it wouldn't work, better _listen _to me next time!"

"Yes, then I won't _have _to turn it on to see whether or not it worked," the other shot back climbing up the rock face to reach into the pipe much to Rin's protesting.

"Kagome, shouldn't you turn _off _the water before you do that?" Rin asked worriedly

"I know what I'm doing," Kagome told her confidently, "I'll just be a second!"

"You may want to consider a career _without _your friend," Sesshomaru whispered to the young woman hanging her head in embarrassment, her brown eyes peeking up from between her fingers.

"Believe me," Rin muttered, "if it wasn't for her financial genius, I would be."

"You're not good with money?" the dog demon accused more than asked.

"It's not like that," the other sighed, "it's more of the fact that she can make the budget stretch further than humanly possible while still keep my idea in mind."

"I see," he muttered as he turned his attention back to the bickering pair, InuYasha now stepping up to stand as close to Kagome as he could without putting his feet in the water.

"Look, I'm just gonna-"

"It doesn't matter!" InuYasha snapped, " it's obviously got something to do with the piping, so nothing you do will-"

"Got it!" Kagome announced, yanking hard on a particularly large clump of dirt and twigs, the barred water spewing forth from its confines.

Rin pulled Sesshomaru backwards as both his brother and her friend were promptly covered in muddied water, Kagome pushed back from the wall with the force of the jet and landing with a splash in the muddied water while InuYasha spluttered and coughed as he moved away from the spraying water. Running from her employer's side, Rin made her way around the stone falls to turn the pressure of the water down, reducing the spraying water to a manageable flow, the falls now spraying water within the basin.

"Kagome, are you alright!" Rin called out to her friend, unconsciously ignoring the coughing half-demon covered in mud and Lord knew what else, the muddied form of Kagome raising up to look over and take her partner's hand.

"Y-yeah," she coughed, "I think so."

"Good," Rin sighed as the mud covered girl stepped from the basin, with her aid, her olive green shift stained dark brown as were her khakis and boots, "cause then it doesn't give me any guilt to do _this_."

"Ouch!" the other yelped when her friend smacked her upside the head, her hand rubbing the sore side of her temples while Rin flicked the mud off her hand, "what was that-"

"I _told _you to turn off the damn water!" Rin snapped at Kagome, anger blazing in her eyes.

"Yeah, I know," the other said defensively, "but I was right!"

"Woo Hoo!" a sarcastic voice cut in, "congratu-fucking-lations, now were _both _covered in shit all because _you _were too damn stupid to turn the water off!"

"Hey, you weren't making things any easier," the girl snapped rounding on him, "you _had _to insist it was the _pipes_!"

"Well-"

"InuYasha," his brother cut him off, "that's enough."

"What!?" the half-demon asked incredulously, his white hair splattered with mud as was his suit and shoes, only half as bad as Kagome looked.

"They managed to get the falls working again, that should be enough," Sesshomaru explained calmly stepping away from his half-brother, his nose wrinkling at the smell, "now go get cleaned up, that smell is revolting."

"Fine," InuYasha muttered bitterly, standing from his leaning position over the stone basin, his amber eyes glaring at his brother.

"And don't track that mud through the manor," Sesshomaru snapped bitterly at the half-demon.

"And just how the hell do you expect me to avoid that?!"

"Use the garden hose."

InuYasha just stared at his brother before glaring at him, huffing as he made his way away from his brother but not before flicking mud over his bothers face and left arm, the look Sesshomaru gave him enough to murder him ten times over.

"You better get washed up as well," Rin murmured to her friend, gently pushing Kagome to follow after InuYasha, the other for once uncomplaining as she looked at Sesshomaru's murderous face before tearing off out of the garden.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Rin told Sesshomaru softly as she stepped up to the dog demon, a white handkerchief removed from her pocket, her hand extending to take his tenderly before she gently dabbed off the mud residue his brother had left behind.

"This isn't your fault," he responded while he let her clean off the mud as best she could from his sleeve, his hand remaining in hers as he was surprised by the feeling of how soft it was given her occupation, "however, I should thank you."

Brown eyes looking up in surprise, "for what?" she asked timidly.

His own amber eyes turned up to look at the falls, the majority of the mud cleared from the pipes and the now clear water flowed down the rocks, cascading over the deep brown and grey stone.

"For this," he gestured as her eyes followed his, "I never thought I'd see them working ever again."

"It wasn't much really," the girl blushed, focusing once more on his sleeve, "besides it was our job, it's what you pay us for; but you're welcome all the same."

He grunted slightly at her words before he felt a tender hand touch his face, the cloth removing all traces of mud left in his brother's anger. His amber eyes looked down at her as he unconsciously flinched away, his forearm now in her gentle grasp as she gently and determinedly wiped away the dirt from his skin.

"Sorry," she murmured for what felt like the umpteenth time in the night, her eyes breaking contact from his, "I-I got most of it, but you might want to get your suit cleaned."

"Of course," the demon replied turning from her and making for the exit, his eyes lingering on her a moment longer, "thank you, once again."

* * *

**Well? Worth it?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ha Ha! Got the update done, extral long Chappie for my loyal readers! ^^ Sorry about the long wait, I hope you all like it ^^**

* * *

The downpour of rain shattered the silence of an otherwise peaceful afternoon; the dark clouds that had threatened earlier had decided to cover the sky, casting a dark shadow over the Western Manor and its grounds. Rin sighed as she looked out the window, her chin in her hand and her elbow on a stack of old layouts and floor plans. The sky had looked dark when the girls work up so, instead of risking the weather, Kagome decided to venture into town and search for the tiles or similar and Rin was tasked with finding the plans.

Their morning fared no better than the weather when their red jeep refused to start, Kagome pouting and whining while her friend looked under the hood, her skills only able to figure out the problem but could do nothing about the solution, the girls having to call on InuYasha as all of the servants were busy or could do nothing to help, the half-demon grumbling as he continually commented on how women knew nothing of men things. It took the bickering dog ten minutes to tell them that their truck was beyond salvation and would have left it at that had Kagome not stopped him and practically ordered him to find a solution to all of this, something Rin wound up helping her with when she threatened to go to his half-brother to resolve this matter.

InuYasha begrudgingly offered his truck and he and Kagome took off through the gates before she could protest the matter and the half-demon could rescind his offer. From there, Rin left the garage with a sigh, Totosai leading her up the wooden stairs to the library, Sesshomaru's temper not one to be trifled with which meant keeping with his request that she be accompanied in the library, the old man smiling as he opened the door for her, her jaw plummeting to the floor at the sight.

The library was huge, thousands of books lined the walls, each with various thickness and colours, almost if not all looking to be first editions and several in other languages, all of them well read at some point in time.

"T-This… is impressive," Rin stammered softly, the servant beside her laughing quietly at her awe.

"It is, isn't it," he mused, "the previous Master was fond of literature and his eldest son has actually taken that interest as well."

The young woman smiled as she looked around at the high walls once more, only slightly envious of the luxuries that the rich could afford; her passion was plants, but she would never say no to curling up by the fire with a book. Totosai had been kind enough to show her where all the plans for the house had been, but to no avail. While she had found garden plans, they had been for the front and walkways, nothing that seemed of use.

Standing up again, Rin moved back to the cabinet that held the floor plans, the ones that were of no use to her in hand as she prepared to throw them back where they came from.

"What are you doing?"

The smooth baritone, paired expertly with the loud clap of thunder and flash of lightning scared Rin, causing her to scream as she turned around to face the voice, jumping backwards into the cabinet and taking the drawer with her as she clattered to the floor. Looking up from her seated position, Rin's fearful eyes met Sesshomaru's amber ones as he towered over her. Relaxing from her scare, Rin exhaled deeply, her hand covering her chest.

"Master Sesshomaru, you scared me," Rin said shakily, trying her best to regain her breath, "wh-what are you doing here?"

"You're asking _me _what I'm doing in my own house?" Sesshomaru questioned, his eyebrow raising slightly.

"O-Of course, my apologies," Rin murmured, her eyes looking down in embarrassment as she tried to hide her blush.

"Where is Totosai?" he asked curtly, his amber eyes narrowing slightly.

"He-He told me he needed to finish some chores," the young woman stammered softly, nervousness settling in, "I-I'm sorry, I know you didn't want me here alone b-but Totosai was gone before I could say anything."

Sesshomaru took a deep breath, closing his eyes gently as he tried to calm his frustrations. Opening them, he slowly got down his knee and extended a hand to the young woman, her eyes widening slightly.

"Sir?"

"I'm sorry for frightening you, are you unharmed?"

"Just a little shaken, but I'll be alright," Rin laughed lightly, "thank you for asking."

The young woman made to take his hand, her finger tips gracing his palm when she suddenly retracted it.

"Oh! The drawer and the plans! I think I ruined them, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, a look of worry and panic etched on her face as she scrambled around for the papers, making sure that she did not rip or tear any.

Sesshomaru just watched her flit around for a moment before slowly moving to assist her, his hands gently picking up scraps of paper. Looking over at her, the demon saw her hands reach out to grab the cabinet drawer in delicate fingers, something that surprised him. When Totosai told him the gardeners were women, he had expected either butch manly women or elderly retirees, not the delicate creature that sat flittering around gathering the papers with hands that belonged on a musical instrument, pulling a bow across harmonizing strings, not weeds and planting prickly roses.

"Oh."

Sesshomaru turned to see Rin's eyes widen slightly as her hands touched the drawer. Looking over at her hand, Sesshomaru noticed what had caught her eye; underneath the overturned drawer was what looked like a thin piece of wood.

_A false bottom?_

The dog demon watched with interest in his amber eyes as she lifted the drawer up, the false bottom already opened, and a rolled up piece of paper fell out with a soft thump.

Placing the drawer delicately on her right side, Rin reached over and picked up the paper, unfurling it slowly with nervous fingers.

"Huh?" was the only sound the young woman made, her eyes widening from curiosity to confusion.

"What is it?"

"It's… it's blank," Rin murmured, holding the paper at an angle that allowed Sesshomaru to see the paper, tilted upwards, amber eyes searching the slightly stained paper, confusing settling in them, his own hands taking the parchment from her.

"Why would it be blank?" the demon whispered to himself, "father, what were you thinking?"

The two looked at the blank paper with confusion in their faces before a flash of lightning lit up the room, the blank paper in Sesshomaru's hands illuminated for the moment, along with black lines and words before they disappeared with the light. Wide brown eyes looked towards the wide amber ones, his own turning to meet hers.

"D-Do you have a light table," Rin half whispered, the demon nodding before the two of them stood up, the rolls of files still in the young woman's hands before they were hastily placed on the table, the two of them making their way over to the table in the corner of the library, Sesshomaru giving Rin the seat while she gently clipped the plans in place, the light screen beneath the parchment flicking on, the once blank paper revealing its secrets.

"I had no idea," Sesshomaru breathed quietly, "I had no idea that my father had gone to _this _length to hid them."

"Did-Did he like to do things like this?"

"He enjoyed his riddles and games," the demon confessed, "loved making me run around the house on a riddle scavenger hunt…" his lips curled into a soft smile, "even now he teases me from the grave."

"And he's not done yet," Rin murmured as her hand gently touched the parchment, the tips gently tracing the writing on the paper, the demon looked over at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"See the writing?" she told him, her head turning to him, her cheeks blushing at the proximity of their lips, her throat swallowing while she pressed on, her face turning back to the drawings, "it's not genus and species and it's not common on any other plans I've seen; if what you say is true, than this is just another riddle."

Amber and Chocolate eyes flickered over the paper, Rin curled over the table, her mind too in depth to notice the demon's hands supporting himself on the edges of the table, his chest nearly to her shoulder blades and back as he looked over her shoulder. The plans outlined the garden as normal ones did, designs and patterns showing walkways and separate patches, but the flowers were never labeled as Rin suggested, some using dates and numerals while others had an extra few numbers attached.

Rin's fingers traced over the _1597:II:II (45-7)_, her eyes narrowing slightly as her mind spun; she knew next to nothing about the demon's father and based off of his admiration for the man, he'd only tell her the good and less of the bad. A finger touched her lips as the riddle teased her, her eyes calm as she searched for its meaning.

"How is your library organized?"

The demon turned from the plans to look at her, her brown eyes still on the paper while her delicate fingertips traced the writing.

"Alphabetically by Author's last name," Sesshomaru told her, "why?"

"Because," Rin told him almost excitedly, "I-"

Her words died on her tongue as she became suddenly aware of how close they were, her body having stood from the chair to turn around, only to have her body closer to his, the unsuspecting demon unable to move away fast enough out of her way, his body only straightening slightly but did not move away from her. Rin stood with her hand over her chest as the two stared at each other, her chocolate eyes wide while his seemed calm and impassive.

"I-uh…" her cheeks flushed before she swallowed thickly, her face turning from his to avoid even more embarrassment, "wh-where would 'S' be?"

"Over there," Sesshomaru gestured as he pointed towards the far aisle, their proximity severely reduced as he straightened up, Rin breathing a soft sigh of relief before she slipped off through the stacks, her fingers touching the spine of the books as she looked for through the authors, he demon watching her with interest. "Is there something in particular you're looking for?"

"Shakespeare," was all he young woman murmured as she straightened up, her brown eyes inquiring before they suddenly lit up, her face breaking out into a triumphant smile, "there it is!"

The demon watched as Rin reached towards the upper shelves, her fingertips grazing the higher books, her delicate feet on their tip toes. Silently, Sesshomaru moved over to her, his own hand retrieving the book she was reaching for, his body directly behind hers again as he pulled the leather-bound book towards him, the young woman blushing at their closeness.

"Romeo and Juliet?" he asked curtly, "I've employed you to fix my gardens, not read my books."

"I know," Rin agreed, her hand out for the play, "but… if I may have it, just for a second?"

Sesshomaru looked from the book to her before he sighed, "very well, what is it you have in mind?"

"I just need to see something…" she murmured quietly as her hands opened the book with care, her finger trailing down the first page before she smiled, "and here it is."

Curious amber eyes looked as she tilted the book towards him, her finger on the part that caught her attention.

"Totosai told me that your father loved books," Rin murmured softly, "in the 1597:II:II, he was referring to Act II Scene II of Romeo and Juliet, which Shakespeare first published in 1597."

"So, what does that mean?"

"That means that the flower that occupies the bed in particular is called a Sweet Juliet, named after Juliet from the play," her brown eyes looked up at him teasingly, " 'What's in a name? that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.'"

"A rose named after a play?"

"People have named flowers after pretty much anything," Rin pointed out as she returned to the plans, "lovers, brothers, sisters, friends, and even use them to tell different stories and myths and even _give _them their own myths."

"Such as?"

"Narcissus," the young woman explained as she gently jotted down the notes his father had made on the parchment, "there's a million variations, but basically, Narcissus was once a boy who was so vain he fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Eventually, he withered away to nothing, his remains eventually becoming the flower we know today."

"Hn," the demon murmured; it wasn't as though he didn't know Greek mythology or Shakespeare, he grew up on the classics, but he was impressed that a gardener knew about them, "how is it someone such as yourself knows about these things?"

"My major is Horticulture, specifically Arboriculture and Floriculture," Rin explained, "but I earned enough credits to get a minor in literature," she blushed lightly, "I thought knowing the romantic side of gardening might help me a bit."

"I see," Sesshomaru murmured softly as Rin straightened up, a piece of paper in her hands as she read over the list, "do the rest of them make sense to you."

"Mostly," the young woman smiled, the demon feeling breath hitch at how beautiful she looked, even in the horrid weather, when she smiled, "I'm pretty sure he's referring to Love-in-idleness from a Midsummer's Night Dream, otherwise known as the heartsease pansy, the violet from Hamlet, and a lily from King John though a gold one is a little ambiguous at best, but the rest I'd need to read over, but they could also be fairly abstruse."

"Would you require any assistance?"

Brown eyes widened slightly in surprise as she looked over at her normally stoic employer, his arms crossed as he leaned casually against the bookshelves.

"I-If you want to," Rin stammered softly, "but… don't you have work to do today?"

"InuYasha is not here," Sesshomaru practically growled, "which makes the planning a no go for today if I wish to escape the rest of the week without him caterwauling in my ear and my partners are under the impression that we are busy at this moment and if we give them the idea that we aren't, they may berate up with relentless calls and we'd never get any work done."

"If you're sure," the young woman murmured a second time, the demon's nod making her break out into a kind smile once more, "then perhaps you can grab The Winter's Tale and Love's Labours Lost while I have a go at Hamlet, if that's fine with you."

"Certainly," the demon nodded, "do you think that the flowers would be in there?"

"Your father only gives dates of when they were published and I knew Romeo and Juliet by heart," Rin told him as she pulled two books from the shelves, "but those three have the most flower references in them, so it's a good start."

"They can't _all _be Shakespeare," Sesshomaru told her as he slipped the books onto the table next to her, "so what more could there be?"

"There are other notes here," the young woman murmured as she pointed to the other writings, "and until it becomes apparent, I have no idea what they could be; do you?"

"You've only just found these plans," the demon pointed out, "I've never known about these much less which books he's write them about."

"Right" Rin blushed slightly, "my apologies."

"Don't," Sesshomaru murmured, "_you_ managed to find these plans _and _decipher half of them, I owe you my thanks."

"Well… you're welcome," the young woman smiled at him, the demon's heart stopping for an instant at her radiance, his amber eyes turning to the passage in the play he was matching to the Act and scene his father had written.

"By the way," Sesshomaru asked though the silence save for rain, "you wouldn't happen to know _where _InuYasha is at this moment?"

"He's-um," Rin stammered softly, "Kagome couldn't get the truck started this morning and she managed to convince InuYasha to drive her into the town to see if she can't match the old tiles to any in stock or find a bunch that match, so by now I'd guess-"

"YOU'RE A FUCKING IDIOT!"

"-that they're back."

"AT LEAST I'M NOT PIG-HEADED!"

Both Sesshomaru and Rin sighed heavily as the sounds of bickering grew louder and louder still, the other two fighting on their way to the library, the sound of squelching reaching even Rin's human ears.

"-could you BE any more of a moron!"

"I TOLD you to bring a damn umbrella!" Kagome nearly shrieked, "but _no_, YOU said it wasn't GOING to rain!"

"For the last fucking time-"

"DO NOT TRACK MUD THROUGH THIS HOUSE!" Sesshomaru suddenly roared, causing the young woman beside him to flinch and the other two to jump from the sound of their feet.

"Need you be so loud?" Rin asked timidly, her hand over her ear closest to the demon.

The dog demon said nothing but turned back to the paper in front of him, his fingers trailing down the pages as he tried to match the flowers Shakespeare alluded too and the notes his father had written on the plans. Rin sighed before she stood from the table, her hand on the doorframe of the library, her eyes catching sight of a sodden Kagome and InuYasha, both of them looking entirely stunned at the sudden uproar from his brother.

"How'd it go?"

"Huh? Oh Rin… hey," Kagome relaxed once she realized it was her friend, "it went okay, we managed to find a few more tiles that are the same, but not enough for the entire walkway…"

"Show me what else you've found after a hot shower okay?" Rin smiled kindly, "and stop fighting with each other!"

"But-"

The glare from the chocolate eyes was enough to even shut InuYasha up, the half-demon closing his mouth and grumbled as he moved away from the two of them to his own room, Kagome following to hers, a hand her arm stopping her.

"Can you _please_ just knock it off!" Rin hissed, "would it honestly _kill _you to be nicer to the guy!?"

"Yes it would!" Kagome snapped quietly, "he's a total prick!"

"I don't care! Look, I found the plans-"

"Oh you did!" the other squealed, "that's wonderful Rin!"

"Yes, thank you," Rin started, "but-"

"So what do they look like?"

"We're still figuring that out, but-"

"What do you-"

"Kagome!" the other finally snapped, "listen!" at her silence Rin pressed on, "the pans were found but I need to sort of decipher them before we can do anything with them-"

"You still won't be able to do anything with them."

Both eyes turned towards the demon standing in the doorway, his arms over his chest while his eyes watched the two of them.

"The rest of the flowers are incredibly vague, no descriptions of colours or species."

"Des…criptions?"

As an answer, Rin turned from her friend to the room, passing by Sesshomaru to see what he had found.

"The only thing that matches his descriptions are the fleur-de-luce, the lily, and the marigold that for some reason, he scratched out."

"Really…" Rin murmured as she looked over at the plans, the fingertips tracing the numbers, the flowers falling into place, the young woman sighing.

"Unless you can miraculously determine-"

"It doesn't matter about the species," the young woman told them, "what matters is the flower and the colour."

Confusion crossed over Sesshomaru's face as he slowly approached her, Kagome keeping in mind the warning the demon had given her, the half-demon joining her after he heard all the commotion, his hair and clothes still soaked as he too stood in the doorway, his amber eyes watching keenly.

"What do you mean?" the demon asked as he too looked over the plans.

"Your father made the garden for his second wife, InuYasha's mother, right?" Rin asked timidly, the demon's jaw flexing at her words, the young woman feeling guilt for his reaction.

"That's right," InuYasha piped up, "why would that have any meaning?"

"Because," the young woman told them, "because your father made the garden to tell her, and you both, a story."

"You mean that Hanakotoba thing?" Kagome asked from across the room.

"Exactly."

"What's Hanakotoba," InuYasha suddenly interjected, his eyes looking from one girl to the next.

"Hanakotoba is the Japanese version of Floriography, the study of using flowers as messages," Rin explained to the other two, "it was sort of a way for lovers to send secret codes back and forth in the old days or to give secret messages to someone and simultaneously making them public to people who didn't know the code."

"Okaaay…"

"It's sort of like giving someone a red rose as opposed to a white one," the young woman pressed on, "red is commonly associated with passion and true love whereas white is for purity or innocence."

"Oh, yeah, right…"

"So your theory is that my father wished to relay a message to us through these plants?" Sesshomaru interrupted his brother and Rin.

"I believe so, yes," Rin nodded slowly, her fingers tracing the plans, "the flowers we have so far are the Sweet Juliet, a coral coloured rose, the pansy, the lily, fleur-de-luce, better known as an iris, and a crossed out marigold."

"So what do they all mean?" the demon beside her pressed, Rin swallowing her nervousness.

"In order so far, there are two unknown flower beds before the Lily and the Iris, and after that there was what might have been the marigold but…"

"But?"

Rin swallowed before she pressed, "what… can you tell me… about your father's life in relation to his love life."

The demon looked at her before back to his keenly listening brother and Kagome, his eyes telling the both of them to disappear, something they did with haste.

"My mother and father were partnered in an arranged marriage, and while my father tried, after having me, he no longer seemed interested in the both of us, and so he found Izayoi, married her after my mother left and had InuYasha," the demon looked more and more agitated with each fact, "why is this pertinent?"

"Because," Rin bravely pressed on, "the marigold was scratched out because of what it represents."

"Which is?"

The young woman seemed to falter under his glare, her courage forcing her to carry on.

"The marigold represents Pain and Grief," Rin swallowed, her eyes averting from Sesshomaru's now nearly murderous gaze, "b-but he must have switched it after he no longer felt that way about her."

"So what do the _rest _of the flowers say," the demon practically snarled.

"I-I think that he switched the marigold to the pansy and sweet pea," the young woman told him, "the purple pansy means memories while sweet pea means goodbye," her chocolate eyes met his, "I don't think he resented your mother."

Sesshomaru looked at her before his jaw tightened, "what else?"

"U-Um, w-well," Rin swallowed, "based on what you've told me, and the codes" her hands touched the page, "the first bed would be Purple Lilacs for the first emotion of love and Dahlia for elegance and dignity, your father meeting your mother for the first time. The second bed would most likely Ivy for endurance and white and yellow tulips for a… one sided love."

"So you're under the impression that my father loved my mother?" the demon asked skeptically, his eyebrow arched.

"I don't think your father would want to bring a child into the world if he despised the mother," Rin whispered softly, the demon's eyes widening in surprise while the young woman continued, "because here, at the third bed, the Iris is with the lily, the latter meaning good news, so the lily is most likely a scarlet one," her brown eyes met his with a soft smile, "meaning high souled aspirations. I think he's talking about you in this one."

"Based on high aspirations and good news?"

"There's also the Hydrangea," she smiled coyly, "that means pride."

Sesshomaru said nothing but stared at the details of plans she was pointing too, her overly romantic ideals slightly infectious, his ear listening to her harmonious voice press on.

"He placed the Eglantine Roses by themselves, they represent a wound to heal," she swallowed thickly, "I-I think this is also about the two of them"

"What else?"

"The rest is about Izayoi and InuYasha," she whispered softly, "w-would you want to hear it or just-"

"I am no child," the demon told her curtly, "it's not as though this would hurt me."

"Alright," the young woman murmured gently, "the next flower is most likely the blue rose based off of Shakespeare's poetry, meaning love at first sight," she swallowed, "the first time he saw Izayoi. The next bed are Pansies and Sweet Pea, the flowers that replace the marigold, and the one after that is the sweet Juliet, Desire and Passion. The next bed are red and yellow roses for happiness and pink Carnations for a mother's love, InuYasha's birth."

"And the final two?" the demon practically dared.

"Plumeria," Rin smiled beautifully, "they mean new beginnings, they're one of my favorite flowers, they're so beautiful."

"And the last one?"

"That one's left blank," she told him softly, her dark orbs meeting his, "that's for the two of you to decide."

She stood from the table before she slipped away through the shelves, the white dress she wore swishing with her body, the demon's eyes lingering on her longer than he'd be willing to admit. His amber eyes breaking from the slim young beauty back to the flowers, his mind torn in two as he looked over at her ideas. They all fit his father perfectly, his jaw tightening at the pain in the truth.

"Here."

The demon looked up at her, the young woman placing him two thin books on the table beside him.

"The black book is all about Hanakotoba, the Japanese art specifically, and the brown older one is specifically Floriography, encompassing the European countries and some in China," she smile timidly at him, "at least have a look at them for the last bed, I-I think your father wanted that."

The demon looked from her to the thin books, his hand slamming the desk as he stood.

"I don't need that," Sesshomaru told her, "finish the garden, but if you _must _do something for the last bed come up with it yourself!"

Rin flinched at the harshness of his tone, the demon stalking away from her.

"Thank you for finding the plans, but since you have what you need, you'll only need my approval."

"No, wait!"

Sesshomaru stopped as she ran in front of him, the books to her chest while she stood her ground.

"Please," she asked timidly, "please just give them a chance-"

"They're just flowers!"

"No! They're not!"

The demon felt his heart flutter as she looked up at him, her eyes full of hoping and pleading, her face patient.

"They're not just flowers," she told him kindly, "not to me and not to your father, he wanted _you _to find these plans, figure out the massage yourself!"

"Why-"

"Totosai told me you love the library, just as your father did," she murmured, "your father wished for you to complete his work, you and InuYasha!"

"I won't-"

"Just try," she told him exasperatedly, the books handed to him, "for your father's sake, please just try."

Without a word to the young woman, his hand took the book she was pressing to his chest, the amber eyes softening into a molten honey, his shoulders relaxing.

"For my father's sake," he conceded softly, "for my father's sake, I'll try what you're asking of me."

Rin's usual radiant smile slip on her face, the demon turning from her after nodding curtly, his mind wondering how long she could make his heart flutter from a smile alone.

* * *

**So ... yeah... hope that wasn't too cheesy, I looked everywhere for those flower messages, hope that you all like them ^^**


	6. Chapter 6

**Told you ^^ Got it updated and it... yeah... kinda went a little... yeah...**

**Enjoy ^^**

* * *

Amber eyes stared out of the large bay windows, the irises softer than normal as the demon watched the young woman walk towards the hidden garden with what looked like the millionth bag of soil in her arms to prevent the wheelbarrow from making tracks across the lawn, her friend trailing behind her, clearly going on about how cruel a boss he was.

"What about the tiger lily then?" InuYasha's voice cut in, "it means wealth."

Sesshomaru turned to his younger brother, his eyebrow raised while the second set of amber eyes were hidden behind the Hanakotoba book.

"I think father meant for us to be a _little _more creative," the demon pointed out, "if you wanted to go in that direction, we could have stuck with that Houseleek thing, it meant domestic economy."

"How about that Marigold thing she shot down," InuYasha sighed, "it means pain and grief right? That's what we're pretty much causing each other on a daily basis."

"So if that's your flower, which one is mine," Sesshomaru grumbled almost bitterly, his fingers raking through his scalp, his half-brother glowing at him.

"What about that Azalea?" the other retorted smartly, "it means patience and modesty."

"Ha ha," the demon shot back, his hand pulling the book towards him, "you're an absolute riot."

"I do what I can," InuYasha told him smugly, his body leaning back in the chair with his hands behind his head.

"The Freesia sounds more like you," Sesshomaru pointed out, "childish and immature."

"What?! Gimme that," the half-demon snatched the book back, his eyes skimming the page, "I am _not _childish and immature!"

"Says the _boy _that snatched the book back," the demon pointed out, his brother flushing slightly at the implications while he growled slightly.

"Well, here's another one for you," the younger smirked, "Honeysuckle, _generous_."

"You have to take the primrose," the elder brother looked up at him with a teasing smile, "_desperation_."

"Oh, here's an even better one," InuYasha told him, "the red poppy, 'fun loving'."

"Only if you have the yellow, success."

"I am successful," the half-demon pointed out, "I haven't run our dad's company in the ground as _you_ predicted I would."

"There's still time," Sesshomaru told his brother grimly, his arms crossed over his chest, his voice surprising him as it held neither bitterness nor malice.

"Right," InuYasha grumbled as he stood up, the small black book handed back to his brother as the amber eyes came to look out the window, his facial expression softening slightly, much to Sesshomaru's confusion, his own amber eyes following his brother's to see Kagome running after her friend heaving what looked like another sack of soil. "Look," the half-demon started, "if we're done here, I'm just gonna… go."

"What-no, wait, InuYasha!"

His brother was already out the study door by the time his brother was calling for him, the elder looking at the open door before he sat back in his chair, sighing.

It had been only five days since Rin had found the plans and the code to go with it, five days that he and his brother debated what flowers to plant in the final garden, each of them agreeing to choose at least one plant for the bed, the _only _thing they could agree on thus far. The two of them were at odds with which ones thy should settle on, which represented them best and so on, Sesshomaru hardly noticing how involved they were becoming with the simple game his father had come up with. His amber eyes opened to look out the window only to see a dog eared head practically bounce over to Kagome, his arms catching the bag she was about to drop, the blue eyes matching her smile as the half-demon hoisted the heavy bag in his arms.

"Sly dog," Sesshomaru murmured under his breath, a small smile threatening to tug at the corner of his lips as he turned back to the plans for the party, a small sigh slipping from his mouth.

The party was in three weeks' time, still more than enough for the gardeners to get the job done provided the two of them could settle on the final bed. Sesshomaru pushed off from his desk, his feet taking him towards the long hallway, his eyes as tired as his body from all the stress that this was causing him, the demon thankful that his brother was beginning to pull his end of the work, or at least he was noticing the work his brother was doing.

The demon turned down the corner and slipped by the guest bedroom, his eyes noticing the door slightly ajar, curiosity ebbing him on to push the wood open, his amber irises finding the young woman sleeping soundly on the bed, her black hair splayed across the white pillow while her slim body was clad in a fluffy white bathrobe. Sesshomaru stepped silently into the room, his eyes entranced by her sleeping form. Fingers slowly extended to touch the soft flesh of her cheek, the young woman humming softly in response, her body adjusting to his hand, the amber eyes noting how the halves around her chest seemed to loosen with her moving form, her long legs despite her petite form slipping out from beneath the white.

Sesshomaru felt his throat catch for a moment before his hands unconsciously slipped from her cheek to skim down the soft robe, his fingers bending for his knuckles to touch the smooth flesh of her thigh, the muscle slight despite her occupation, the skin still as soft as the petals of the flowers she planted. The young woman moaned in her sleep at the fingers over her leg, Sesshomaru catching his actions halfway through them, his eyes widening as he gently albeit reluctantly pulled himself away from her, his hand curling into himself as he reminded himself that she was his employee, someone that worked for him.

Turning from the young woman, Sesshomaru made his way to leave her to her slumber, his mind spinning as he wondered what it would look like had someone caught him in the compromising position with her asleep and his hand touching her creamy flesh, his hand covering his eyes as he wondered what on earth had possessed him to reach out for her, a soft groan slipping from the young woman catching his attention, his eyes turning back to her sleeping form, his own shoulders sagging slightly. He wouldn't deny her beauty or grace, she was delicate yet strong, independent yet never looking for a fight, it was no wonder she captured his attentions. He almost regretfully turned from her, making to leave from her room.

His feet stopped on the floor once his amber eyes caught sight of a small white flower blooming from the plant on her dresser, the same plant he had thrown at his half-brother the day the two gardeners started working for them. His hand reached to touch the propped up plant, his fingers trailing the once surely broken stem of the plant, the mending break supported by a small stick of wood and string. Eyes trailed the healing plant, the vegetation looking twice as better then when he cared for it, if he ever remembered to care for it at all. The flower had been given to him by an old friend of the family after receiving the invitation for the party, the man telling him it was to "put him in the mood for the party." Nevertheless, Sesshomaru accepted it, shoving the plant on the corner of his desk and promptly ignoring it, it was only flung at his brother in a fit of rage as he saw it as an object that would cause his younger some damage.

Fingertips touching the leaves before reaching for the small blooming bud, the bunched white petals slowly emerging from the small stem pristine and beautiful, his amber eyes flickering to the sleeping woman, just like her. Sesshomaru sighed as he silently slipped out of the woman's room, his fingers digging through his scalp as he mulled over what he had done, what he _wanted _to do. She was a woman he knew for a little over two weeks and in the next two, she would be gone, out of his life for good. She was employed to restore the garden, nothing more, nothing less; feelings were not supposed to come into play, not for either of them, not that she should feel anything for a cold-hearted business minded man.

Amber eyes caught movement on the grounds, his eyes looked out the window to see his younger brother and Kagome walking back, an unknown awkward smile on the half-demon's features as he rubbed the back of his head.

"InuYasha," the demon murmured, "what are we gonna do?"

* * *

"Thanksfor the help," Kagome told InuYasha as the two of them crossed the grounds, "I'd hate to admit it to Rin, but those things were _really _heavy."

"It was nothing," InuYasha brushed off, "but why wouldn't you want to admit that to your friend? Doesn't seem like the type to, ya know, tease you about it."

"She wouldn't," the young woman told him, "it's just that… I want to pull my share of the load too, not only in finances; I don't want Rin to think I can't do this job."

"Hey, you've done great so far… from my point of view, anyway, with the whole waterfall thing."

"Hm? So you admit I was right?"

"Never," the half-demon smirked, "but I'm almost as glad as my brother is to see that old thing working again… I'm just sorta sorry we needed a mud bath for that to work."

"Was not part of the plan I assure you," Kagome joked, "but whatever works."

"Hey, Sesshomaru was happy for a while."

"He was… happy?"

"Couldn't you tell?" InuYasha asked with a cheeky grin, "he didn't snap at me for a day… it was a good day."

The young woman laughed at the comment, the half-demon feeling his cheeks heat slightly, his smile turning bashful and his hand rubbed the back of his head.

"Anyway, though he doesn't say it, we really appreciate what you're doing," the half-demon murmured softly, "thanks."

"Don't thank us," Kagome waved her hand, "we're just doing our jobs. Besides, wait till Rin's done to thank us."

"Think I'll be _that _impressed?"

"I hope Sesshomaru will," the young woman told him, "provided you two get those damn flowers picked."

"We're working on it," InuYasha defended, "it's really hard when neither one of us can agree on which ones suit us best."

"Hey, so long as you get it done I don't care," Kagome laughed lightly, "but then again, we're planting the flowers like two days before the party, so you've got till next week when we order them."

"Is that long or short?"

"Depending on the flowers, could be either," she explained, "but Rin can pretty much get what she wants when she wants, _every_ guy at the nursery we order it from has a thing for her."

"Do I detect jealousy?" the half demon teased lightly, Kagome snorting in defiance.

"Hardly," the young woman shot back, "but, she and I haven't _exactly _had good luck with guys."

"Why not? You guys are-"

InuYasha stopped himself from finishing, his cheeks tingeing a light red before he swallowed.

"I-I mean… why not?"

"Um, well," Kagome murmured, her eyes avoiding his before she pressed on, "see, Rin's only ever had one boyfriend and they recently broke up and I… I can't seem to find a decent guy."

"What do you mean?"

"My last boyfriend and I broke up because he slept with someone else in our bed."

InuYasha felt his eyes grow wide at the bitterness in her voice, her mood seemed to darken in an instant, her jaw setting firmly.

"Sucks… don't it?"

Surprised blue eyes turned to look at InuYasha, his own amber irises avoiding hers.

"You too?" she asked softly, the half-demon bleating out a laugh before he pressed on.

"Yeah," InuYasha sighed, "thought she was the one and everything. Turns out, I'm just a moron that let her sleep around with another guy every time she took a 'business trip'."

"That's awful," Kagome replied, clearly appalled, "so… how did you find out?"

"Funniest thing really; as it turns out, his name was right above mine in her phone. Sent a very descriptive message of what she wanted done to her."

"It could have been meant for you-"

"It could've," InuYasha agreed, "but I don't exactly have big black wings and a tipped tail that she liked to have-"

"Don't wanna know!" Kagome interrupted, her hands held up as she took a step back from InuYasha, the half-demon chuckling lightly.

"Believe me, neither did I," he shuddered lightly, "but… I figured it out and wound up confronting her. Didn't even deny it, said that she was the best thing to happen to me and that it was only a one-time thing; dumped her ass on the spot."

"Well good for you," the young woman hit him on the shoulder, "everyone deserves better than a cheater!"

"And what about you?" InuYasha asked as he rubbed where she hit, "how'd you find out?"

"Went home early to surprise him, ended up with a surprise for me," Kagome stated bluntly, "pretty sure he was torn between finishing up and talking to me when I walked in."

"Sucks, knowing the person you've devoted yourself to betray you as easily as switching an entrée," the half-demon muttered almost as bitterly as her.

"Still," the young woman smiled, her normally bubbly demeanor slipping back into her voice, "at least _one _good thing came out of it!"

"Which is?" InuYasha muttered skeptically.

A light kiss met his cheek much to his surprise, the amber eyes widening at the feeling of soft lips on his skin, his fingers reaching to touch the place she had kissed, her blush light but befitting.

"We can both find someone perfect for us."

* * *

**Oo ^^ Reviews if you could by so kind?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ha! MOAR updates ^^**

**Enjoy.**

**P.S so sorry about the delay, hope this makes up for it!**

* * *

Bright sun beat the backs of the two workers as they slogged through the garden, now thankfully barren and clear of any offending weeds and gnarly overgrowth, the thick bags of soil hauled now lying where the broken dirt sat while the girls formed the beds using large stones, four days spent making the mixture of white and red stones that surrounded the tiles Kagome proudly showed her partner once they were delivered, Rin visibly impressed, the hard work even earning a note of approval from Sesshomaru.

The girls grunted as they hauled the heavy tiles into place, the design tweaked to fit Rin's own, modern touches added under the brother's approval, touches that would make the garden truly theirs. One of her touches included spaces between the tiles, the tiles more of an accent piece in the path as the entire thing was made up of white and red stones with the original tiles inserted in a pattern at the distance of a walking pace.

"Looks good," Kagome commented on their third day, her feet moving around in the stones to avoid muddying the tiles, "you've outdone yourself Rin!"

"Can I bank that compliment for use in three days?" the young woman asked lightly, the inquisitive blue eyes prompting her to continue, "that's when the manure gets here."

"Oh!" her friend groaned loudly, "RIN!"

"Hey Rin! I've got this _great _idea! Let's start a gardening business! Come on, it'll be _easy_!"

Kagome stuck out her lower lip as she pouted, "I hate you sometimes."

"I know," Rin murmured as she marched over to the wheelbarrow, her hand reaching in to grab the clippers from it, "so shut up and cut the hedge back, now that we've got a moment."

"Fine," the other grumbled as she gripped her green hedge trimmers from Rin's hand.

"Outside or in?" the gardener asked as they both stepped to the gate.

"Out!" Kagome called as she slipped through the iron gate, Rin sighing as she began snipping the stray branches, her friend only returning to steal her wheelbarrow and follow her friend's example of putting the trimmings in the black wheel barrow, the silence between them comforting while it lasted.

"Hey… Rin?"

"Hm?"

The young woman paused as the sound of clipping filled the void, the bushes shuffling as Kagome found her words.

"How… How mad would you be if… if I maybe _dated _a client…"

Kagome waited with bated breath as her friend paused, no sound emanating from either the clippers or the young woman.

"Kagome," Rin started slowly, "are you… are you going out with… one of the brothers?"

"N-No!" the young woman stammered, "no, of course not! I would _never _do _anything _like that without telling you!"

"So then _why _are you asking?" the other retorted, the blades of her clippers resuming their actions.

"Cause," Kagome shrugged, an idea striking her as her lips pulled to a smirk, "say… Rin-"

"No."

"Oh come on! You don't even know what I'm going to ask!"

"I know that tone," Rin retorted, her arms removing a particularly thick branch, "and I don't _like _that tone."

"I just wanna know what you think of the employers," Kagome told her, pouting though her friend couldn't see her, "you know… now that we've gotten to know them a little better."

"Uh-huh," the other muttered, disbelieving though choosing to humor her, "well," she started as she swallowed thickly, "they're… nice."

"Nice?" her friend prompted, "come on; you've got a million and two words in your vocabulary, and all you can say is 'nice'?"

"Well," Rin defended, "I don't see a whole lot of InuYasha so I can't say. I see Sesshomaru since he's organizing the party and everything and he wants me to give him input as to where everything will be."

"Ah, I see," Kagome nodded though her friend couldn't see it, "so… what _do _you think of him?"

"_Why _are you so intent on this?" the young woman pressed as she shoved the twigs in the wheelbarrow.

"I just wanna know!"

Rin said nothing as she continued to trim the hedges, her lips chewed as she understood the implications.

"He's interesting," she finally admitted, "he's very prideful and very intelligent but he's also… regal and imperial… sort of like he's from a different era, sort of like he was meant to be a great Lord or Samurai."

"I see," Kagome smirked, knowing that the deep brown eyes had probably softened to a melted chocolate and an even softer smile would be on her lips.

"Why?" Rin asked her, "what's your opinion of him?"

"… he's handsome."

Her friend snorted in laughter, her hand coming to cover her mouth to stifle it.

"That's it?"

"What else matters?" Kagome teased, enjoying her friend's laughter bubbling over from the other side, knowing just how hard she had been working.

The young woman had been working out in the garden with Kagome before returning to the manor for a quick shower and slipping to the study where she would often catch the demon deep in work, Sesshomaru always finding time to talk to her about the plans for the garden and the party, Rin becoming a much more active voice in the plans for the dinning and organizing, mostly due to her own planning and arrangement of the garden, the two working well into the night, Kagome once catching the demon carrying Rin bridal-style to her bed, the young woman hiding as her friend was tucked in with uncharacteristic care by Sesshomaru.

"So what about you?" Rin cut in, "what do you think of InuYasha?"

"Wh-Wh-What are you-"

"Every spare moment you get, I catch you chatting and laughing and just hanging around InuYasha," the young woman smirked at the silence Kagome had been rendered to, sure that the other wad blushing furiously as she tried to figure a believable answer.

"Well… he has interesting conversations…"

"What do you talk about?" Rin pressed, determined to make the younger trip up.

"… Stuff…"

"Stuff like…"

"If you want to bust me, just say so," Kagome grumbled after a moment of silence, the determined snip sounding over Rin's light laughter.

"I want to bust you," the young woman teased, her gloved hands pulling the offending branches towards her, her handheld hedge trimmers snipping them.

"Fine! I like his company," her friend spat, "but… there's gotta be something wrong with him… has his brother said anything about it?"

"Why must there be something wrong with him?" Rin asked, her eyebrow raising as the pattering feet ran back towards the gate before Kagome appeared at the gate, her body running to grip Rin's arm.

"Cause I _always _choose bad guys," Kagome explained panting slightly, "and… well… I sort of, um…"

"Like him?" the young woman raised her eyebrow, a small smile pulling on her lips at the blushing nod, "though you've only known him for two and a half weeks?"

"He's sort of got this… I don't know, quirky charm and roughness about him… you know, kind like a generic leather jacket wearing bad boy you have a crush on in school but was the kind of guy that was awkward around girls and would save a stray cat."

"Never liked the bad boy but go on."

"Oh please," Kagome snorted, "you're going for the _biggest _of bad boys!"

"Excuse me?" Rin asked, her hands on her hips, "Kohaku was always a shy goody goody!"

"But Sesshomaru is one of those perfect boys that always got the best marks in school and had girls _swooning _over him and yet, underneath him, is both a tragic and torn soul that needs a healing touch; without it, he's this harsh and twisted angry guy that can never hope to find love-"

Kagome's dramatic ramblings were cut off by a slap of a glove to the back of her head, her blue eyes watering as she turned to her friend, the delicate fingers holding her worn leather gloves.

"_How _many times do I have to tell you," Rin scolded, "we are _not _in high school and this _isn't _a soap opera!"

"Fine, I know," the other grumbled as she pulled a leaf from her hair, "but seriously though, he may seem professional and straight, but he's still cold and detached."

"I wouldn't say that," the young woman defended, "he wants this place restored to what his father wanted, he clearly honoured the man; that's gotta say something about who he is as a man."

"He's not a man, he's a demon," Kagome murmured, "but you're still falling for him… aren't you?"

Rin said nothing as she moved over from the hedges she had neatened to the large cherry tree, her hands reaching to pull some of the low hanging stray branches, her trimmers snipping the spare branches.

True, her time spent with Sesshomaru was something she actually grew to look forward to, the two doing nothing more than chatting and going on about the plans for the garden, their topics often diverging to personal interests or themselves, the demon surprising her with telling her almost as much as she told him, his company becoming a comfort to her, someone she felt she could trust with her darkest secrets. Their relationship, however, was something Rin tried to keep to a client-employer basis, something she felt losing control of and yet did not mind, figuring it wouldn't be such a terrible thing for her to keep him as a friend after the work had finished, a thought her heart knew was a lie.

"I know where to draw the line," the young woman finished as she grasped the dead branches in her hands, the wheelbarrow pushed towards the pile the girls intended to dispose of.

"That's the problem," Kagome whispered, "you'll draw it, and won't ever step a toe over it."

* * *

"Whereare you going?"

InuYasha looked up at his approaching brother, the elder keeping his hands in his pockets as the amber eyes looked at him with curiosity.

"Oh, um… see, Kagome's truck isn't working right so she's getting it tuned-up at the garage and she sort of needs someone to drive her back from it," InuYasha explained almost bashfully as he fully descended the stairs, his brother following him.

"So why doesn't Rin just drive her?"

"Cause they only have one car," the half-demon explained, his sports jacket slipped over his shoulders, "and I'm not letting them drive mine."

"And then you'll stop somewhere for dinner?" Sesshomaru pressed, his eyebrows raised as his younger stood defiantly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Just _what _makes you think that?" InuYasha snorted, his brother sharper than he remembered at the time.

"You can't _seriously _think I'm _that _oblivious," the demon stated bluntly, his younger brother almost flushing at the implications.

"We won't be going for dinner," the younger informed him after a moment, "it'll be too late, the mechanic is a good hour away, plus the time she needs to fight with the guy."

"Fight?"

"It's Kagome," InuYasha shrugged his shoulders, "really, I don't think she's happy _unless _she's fighting with someone."

"I heard that!" a voice cut in, "and I am _not _that bad!"

"You have your moments," the second young woman grumbled as she too stepped into the cool house, her hand rubbing the back of her neck in an attempt to cool herself off.

"Are you ready to go?" InuYasha asked, cutting off Kagome as she opened her mouth to retaliate to Rin's comment.

"Gimme a minute to change into something fresh," Kagome told him, her boots slipping off her feet as she hastened up the stairs, Rin watching her go with bemused brown eyes before she nodded to the others, her own feet slipping up the stairs

Kagome was quicker than Rin as she bounced back down the stairs in white jeans, a light green blouse and floral patterned flats while she had a brown purse strung over her shoulder, the other joining the three of them, her own body clad in a white and yellow summer dress, her freshly washed feet bare on the wood flooring.

"Right, we'll be gone for a bit," Kagome informed the other, "I call you if we run into trouble okay?"

"Sure," Rin smiled, "I'll keep my cellphone on. Oh! and do you have an-"

"-umbrella?" her friend finished, her smile teasing as she threw a glance to InuYasha, "fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice and only one of us comes back."

"I'm shaking," InuYasha muttered sarcastically, "let's get going."

"Bye!"

Rin merely smiled and waved while Sesshomaru shook his head, her teasing brown eyes only turning to him once the two were out the door.

"What?" she smiled, the demon understanding that it was referring to his shaking head.

"You two," he murmured, "you're just… something else."

Rin simply giggled at the statement before she turned to the kitchen for her dinner, their interactions resuming almost two hours later, Sesshomaru sitting outside on the porch with a glass of his wine, his amber eyes staring at the sunset.

"Bored?" the young woman thought to tease, her impulses met with a small smile from the demon as he turned to look at her.

"Relaxed, for once," her admitted, "normally my brother and I are fighting or I'm planning for something or working late," he sighed, "it's nice to just relax for a bit."

"I see," Rin smiled as she leaned against the doorframe, the demon watching both her and the sunset.

"Would you care to join me?"

Brown eyes widened at his words, her head turning to look at him before she relaxed back into her easy smile.

"If… If you don't mind," the young woman murmured, the demon gesturing to the seat next to him, Rin slipping easily next to him.

"Would you like a glass of wine?" Sesshomaru asked, his gardener shaking her head no.

"Wine has a nasty habit of disappearing around me," she joked softly, her cheeks flushing as she realized how bad she sounded, her throat clearing as she searched for something else to say, "this place is so beautiful."

"It is, isn't it," the demon agreed softly, unperturbed by her small joke.

"It must've been wonderful to grow up here," Rin continued softly, the demon taking a small sip of wine.

"I wouldn't know," he murmured, "I grew up away from here."

"You didn't?"

The demon nodded before he continued, "you already know that my father died when my brother was born, got into a car accident on his way to the hospital. When he passed, this land came to my brother's wife, not my mother but it she already lived away from my father as they were separated at the time, so I grew up with her."

"And… your brother?"

"Grew up with his mother until she got sick and passed, then he was raised by his grandmother on his mother's side," he shrugged, "we never saw much of each other as kids, thank God for that."

"Because you blamed him for your father's death?"

Sesshomaru paused, his amber eyes turning to look at the delicate young woman sitting next to him, her tone inquisitive but not accusatory, her deep brown eyes watching his reactions with kindness.

"I… I don't mean to pry-"

"It… was easier to accept that idea than the other one."

It was Rin who turned around to look at the other in surprise, the demon softening slightly as the young woman bravely spoke up.

"The idea that your brother might mean more to your father than you?"

"Yes," Sesshomaru nodded, Rin turning to look out at the skyline.

"I can understand that," she murmured, "had three older brothers."

"You must have been a little brat back then," the demon smirked, Rin giggling slightly.

"I was the youngest and only daughter," the young woman said smartly, "I wasn't a brat, I was entitled," her smile fell slightly, "at least, that's what I thought at the time… before I had countless other siblings."

"Countless?" he asked, his eyebrow raised in curiosity "what do you mean by 'countless'?"

"My family… also passed from a car accident, well, everyone save for my father and me. My mother was DOA and my middle brother was brain dead," she sighed deeply, "that was the hardest thing for an eight-year-old to learn; I couldn't understand why my brother wouldn't wake up, he was right there," she swallowed thickly, "however, my father's heart was never in good condition and he had a heart attack about a year later, been shuffled around from home to home ever since."

"I… I'm sorry," Sesshomaru murmured, the brown eyes shining slightly as they turned to him.

"It's alright, it happened a long time ago and… I've moved on. I'll never forget it of course, but I've moved on with my life," she smiled sadly, "besides… I got to meet Kagome and get this job, so I guess life has a way of working out."

"Is that your mentality then?" the demon encouraged, the head of long midnight locks shaking.

"I believe life works out if you work at it," Rin murmured, her smile soft as she straightened up in her chair, "what about you? What's your philosophy in life?"

"Basically hard work pays off," Sesshomaru told her, shrugging slightly, "not much of a philosophy."

"Honourable," she smiled, "so… what are you going to do once the party's done and over with."

"Go on living here," he murmured, Rin's eyes widening slightly at the statement.

"All alone?" the young woman asked, the concern in her voice causing him to look at her with his eyebrow raised.

"Quite," the demon nodded, "my brother resides in an apartment in the city and the servants are only really here to keep the place clean and kept."

"That sounds… lonely…"

"It might well be after this last couple of weeks," Sesshomaru chuckled, "the house has become incredibly lively with both my brother and you two in it."

"Ah," Rin's usual smile returned to her face, "sorry about that."

"No worries," he murmured, "it's actually becoming, dare I say, enjoyable, and the house _will_ be a lot emptier with you three gone."

"You sound like you'll miss us," the young woman teased softly, the unreadable emotion in the amber eyes silencing her, his orbs staring at her with intensity she had yet seen.

"Perhaps I will," Sesshomaru confessed softly, his body pushing up from the table, Rin's eyes watching as he turned and left her sitting alone in confusion, his final words to her a soft 'goodnight'.

* * *

**Well? Reviews if you would bee so kind ^^**


End file.
